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THE 


Social  and  Economic  Condition 


OF    THE 


Highlands  of  Scotland 


SINCE    1800. 


BY 


A.     J.      BEATON, 

A.M.I.C.E.,  F.S.A.  (SCOT.),  F.G.S.E., 

Author  of  "History  of  Fortrose"  "Antiquities  of  the  Black  Isle,"  <bc. 


I   UN1VI 

STIRLING  : 
NEAS   MACKAY,    43    MURRAY   PLACE. 

1906. 


v^? 


oP6 


Printed  at  the 
Stirling  Obiwrver  Office, 


THIS    LITTLE    VOLUME    IS    DEDICATED 
TO 

Sir  Arthur  Bignold.  llb..  j.r,  m.r,  *c., 

OF   LOCHROSQUE,    ROSS-SHIRE, 
IN   RECOGNITION   OF 

THE    INVALUABLE    SERVICES    HE    HAS    RENDERED 

IN    CONNECTION   WITH    PUBLIC   WORKS 

FOR  THE 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    HIGHLANDS   OF    SCOTLAND* 

MORE    ESPECIALLY   IN    CONNECTION 

WITH    RAILWAYS,    HARBOURS,   AND    FISHERIES, 

AND   IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF 

HIS   ACTS    OF   KINDNESS    AND    LIBERAL   ASSISTANCE 

TO  THE 

SOCIAL   AND   CHARITABLE    INSTITUTIONS 

OF  THE 

NORTHERN    HIGHLANDS. 


1.58326 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Definition— Area,          - 17 

Population, 20 

Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants,  23 

Superstitions,  &c, 33 

Ancient  Customs  and  Festive  Amusements,      -  36 

Religion,          --------  38 

Education, 42 

Domestic  Life, 46 

Emigration, 57 

Industries  : — 

Agriculture, 64 

Cattle  Breeding, 71 

Fisheries, 86 

The  Development  of  the  Fisheries,        -       -  89 

Tree  Planting,    -       -       -       -       -       -       -  93 

Manufactories, 95 

Distilleries, 98 

Kelp, 100 

Development  of  the  Highlands:— 
Means  of  Communication:— 

Roads, 102 

Canals, 106 

Railways, 108 

Peat, 116 

Appendix  : — 

Water  Supplies, -  12a 

Light  Railways, 121 

Peat, 122 

Fisheries, 123 

Notes  on  Tree  Planting,  -       -       -       -       -  124 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

^Caledonian  Canal  at  Fort  Augustus,       Facing  Title 

A  Highland  Officer  in  the  18th  Century,      -  17 

A  Highland  Officer  of  the  Present  Century,  24 

Scene  of  the  Massacre  of  Glencoe,  28 

Ghost  in  Background,  with  Highlander,-       -  32 

A  Highland  Castle, 48 

A  Highland  Cottage, 52 

Highland  Emigrant  in  the  Early  18th  Century,  60 

Highland  Cattle, 72 

Highland  Fishing  Boats, 88 

Remnants  of  the  Great  Caledonian  Forest,    -  92 

One  of  General  Wade's  Bridges,       -       -       -  104 

A  Pass  in  the  Highlands,    -       -       -       -       -  120 


The  Illustrations  in  this  Volume  are 
reproduced,  with  kind  permission,  from 
photographs  by  Messrs.  Valentine  & 
Sons, Dundee;  Messrs. Wilson  &  Coy., 
Aberdeen;  and  Mr.  Paul  Cameron, 
Pitlochry. 


r'HE; 
31TY 


FOREWORD. 


FN  issuing  from  the  press,  at  this  time,  in  book 
1  form,  his  excellent  essay  on  the  Highlands  and 
Western  Islands  of  Scotland,  I  am  of  opinion 
that  Mr.  Beaton  is  conferring  a  distinct  benefit  on 
his  countrymen.  His  little  treatise  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  wisest  and  best  ever  written  on  the 
subject.  The  author  of  the  essay  now  lives  in  South 
Africa,  where  he  discharges  the  duties  of  an  impor- 
tant and  responsible  situation;  and  it  says  a  good 
deal  for  him  that,  in  the  midst  of  all  his  toils  and 
anxieties  in  that  part  of  the  world,  he  can  still  find 
time  to  plan  out  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  his 
dear  old  native  land,  and  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
material  and  social  condition  of  its  inhabitants.  Mr. 
Beaton  is  no  mere  theorist  or  day-dreamer.  On  the 
contrary,  as  a  successful  engineer,  with  an  extensive 
and  varied  experience,  he  knows  thoroughly  what  he 
is  writing  about ;  and  he  clearly  demonstrates  that 
the  suggestions  he  makes,  if  carried  into  effect,  would 
not  only  be  of  present  benefit  to  the  Highland 
people,  but  would  actually  pay,  and  in  most  cases  be 
a  source  of  future  enrichment  to  the  nation  at  large. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  that  in  his  book  Mr.  Beaton 

(9) 


x.  Foreword. 

gives  voice  to  the  demands  of  all  reasonable  and 
common-sense  people  in  our  Highlands  and  Islands ; 
and  I  trust  that  our  legislators  will  "  read,  mark, 
learn,  and  inwardly  digest "  his  modest  and  moderate 
proposals,  which,  I  feel  perfectly  sure,  will  be  helpful 
to  them  in  their  deliberations  on  the  subject. 

On  account  of  the  great  distance  between 
Johannesburg  and  Stirling,  Mr.  Beaton  requested  me 
to  revise  the  proofs  of  his  volume,  a  task  which  I 
readily  agreed  to  undertake;  and  I  accordingly 
endeavoured,  so  far  as  possible,  to  correct  those  small 
errors  in  spelling  which  have  such  a  tendency  to 
creep  into  a  printed  book.  Of  course,  Mr.  Beaton 
himself  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  final  revision 
of  his  work. 

JOHN  SINCLAIR,  B.D., 

Parish  Minister  of  Kinloch-Rannoch. 

The  Manse,  Kinloch-Kannoch, 

Perthshire,  20th  March,  1906. 


PREFACE. 


THE  genesis  of  this  little  book  was  a  Prize  Essay 
written  for  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  in 
1888 :  it  afterwards  appeared  as  a  serial  in  the 
"Celtic  Monthly  Magazine."  Since  then  I  have 
revised  and  extended  the  matter  to  its  present 
form,  which  I  now  publish,  partly  through 
representations  made  to  me  that  its  value  as  a  work 
of  reference  would  be  enhanced  in  book  form,  but 
chiefly  from  a  long  and  ardent  desire  I  have  had  of 
placing  before  the  public  a  scheme  evolved  by  me 
fifteen  years  ago  for  developing  the  many  natural 
resources  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  which  from 
common-place  familiarity  have  been  overlooked  by 
keen  business  men  and  speculators  alike. 

The  glamour  of  gold  and  diamonds  blind  most 
men,  and  the  common-place  resources  of  their  native 
country  are  too  often  neglected  for  doubtful  ventures 
in  foreign  lands.    Thus  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland, 

where  millions  of  tons  of  water,  capable  of  generating 

(ii) 


xii.  Preface. 

incalculable  energy,  have  been  running  to  waste  for 
ages,  only  recently  one  industry  has  taken  advantage 
of  this  economical  form  of  power. 

In  a  country  where  thousands  of  acres  of  land  are 
practically  lying  waste,  few  have  deemed  it  a  good 
investment  to  plant  trees  or  sub-divide  tillable  land 
into  small  townships  except  in  a  half-hearted  fashion, 
and  without  any  specific  general  scheme  for  future 
developments.  In  a  country  surrounded  by  a  sea- 
board, whose  waters  are  teeming  with  fish,  no 
adequate  harbours  exist;  and  fishing  generally  is 
now  prosecuted  in  practically  the  same  primitive 
manner  as  it  was  two  centuries  ago. 

True,  the  Fishery  Board  of  Scotland  has  done 
something  towards  scientific  investigation ;  and  it 
and  the  Congested  District  Boards  have  helped  in  a 
feeble  manner  in  the  direction  of  providing  harbours 
and  piers ;  but  a  very  great  deal  remains  yet  to  be 
done. 

The  Government  should  issue  much  larger  grants 
both  for  harbours  and  fishing  equipments.  Since 
the  passing  of  the  Congested  Districts  Board,  in 
1897,  up  to  the  end  of  March,  1905,  the  amount 
spent  on  works  and  land  migration,  but  excluding 
the  purchase  of  lands,  roughly  represented  £130,000, 
of  which  amount  nearly  £12,000  were  expended  in 


Preface.  xiii. 

administrative  charges.  It  is,  therefore,  apparent 
that  the  present  system  of  making  grants  in 
dribbling  doles  is  anything  but  an  economical 
policy. 

The  half-hearted  modes  of  procedure  hitherto 
adopted  must  be  changed  into  vigorous  action.  The 
waste  uplands  must  be  re-afforested ;  the  straths 
and  glens  must  be  cultivated.  Harbours,  piers,  and 
creeks  must  be  constructed.  The  fishing  industry 
must  be  conducted,  extended,  and  worked  on  more 
scientific  and  economic  principles.  Light  railways 
should  intersect  districts  now  devoid  of  reasonable 
means  of  access.  The  existing  principal  harbours 
should  have  railway  connections  to  admit  of  the  rapid 
transit  of  fresh  fish  to  the  large  consuming  centres, 
and  curing  stations,  constructed  on  the  latest 
scientific  lines,  should  be  established  at  all  im- 
portant fishing  stations.  Then  there  would  be  an 
outlet  for  overcrowded  labour,  and  a  remedy  for  our 
congested  cities. 

Who  has  yet  given  any  real,  practical,  or  scientific 
consideration  to  the  utilisation  of  the  great  peat 
deposits  of  the  Highlands?  Here  is  a  fuel  con- 
taining a  large  percentage  of  combustible  material, 
dug  out  in  the  crude  manner  of  almost  pre-historic 
days,   in   a   climate   sodden   with   damp,   in   which 


xiv.  Preface, 

desperate  efforts  are  made  to  dry  a  still  more  sodden 
peat  in  an  atmosphere  already  overburdened  with 
moisture,  when  a  simple  mechanical  process  of 
compression  and  artificial  evaporation  would  produce 
66  per  cent,  of  combustible  material  little  inferior 
to  the  best  coal,  and  apart  from  many  valuable 
by-products. 

These,  briefly,  are  a  few  of  the  many  points  which 
I  am  anxious  to  bring  before  the  readers  notice  in 
this  book,  and,  although  in  several  cases  I  have  only 
hovered  around  the  outskirts  of  the  subject,  I  hope 
to  arouse  sufficient  interest  in  the  problems,  and  to 
awaken  the  public  from  their  apathy  towards  the 
starving  masses  of  our  large  cities,  and  by  co-operation 
obtain  for  them  honourable  employment  and 
comfortable  homes  in  the  Highlands  they  so  fondly 
cherish,  instead  of  allowing  them  to  be  expatriated 
to  foreign  lands  and  climes  unsuited  to  their 
temperament. 

Were  these  schemes,  which  I  have  so  imperfectly 
outlined,  carried  into  effect,  they  would  go  a  long 
way — a  very  long  way — towards  the  amelioration  of 
our  compatriots,  whose  ancestors  or  themselves  have 
been  driven  from  their  native  soil,  and  the  land  they 
love  so  well. 

I  cannot  close  this  Preface  without  expressing  my 


Preface.  xv. 

gratitude  to  the  Rev.  John  Sinclair,  Parish  Minister 
of  Kinloch-Rannoch,  for  the  many  valuable  hints 
given  to  me  during  the  final  getting-up  of  this  book,, 
and  for  his  kindness  in  revising  the  proofs  during 
my  absence  in  South  Africa. 

A.  J.  BEATON. 


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A  Highland  Officer  in  the  Early  18th  Century. 


THE 

SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  CONDITION 

OF   THE 

HIGHLANDS  OF  SCOTLAND 

SINCE  1800. 


DEFINITION— AREA. 

N  approximately  straight,  or  gently  undulat- 
ing line  taken  from  Stonehaven,  in  a 
south-west  direction,  along  the  northern 
outskirts  of  Strathmore  to  Grlen  Artney, 
and  thence  through  the  lower  reaches  of  Loch 
Lomond  to  the  Firth  of  Clyde  at  Kilcreggan,  marks 
out  with  precision  the  southern  limits  of  the  High- 
land area. '  Such  is  the  definition  of  the  Northern 
Highlands  by  Professor  Geikie  ;  and  although  this 
boundary  does  not  define  the  usually  accepted 
limits,  it  is,  nevertheless,  the  true  physical  frontier 
of  the  Scottish  Highlands.  The  division  of  Scot- 
land recognised  to-day  as  ''The  Highlands"  may 

07)  B 


18       The  HigJUands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

be  strictly  confined  to  the  area  occupied  by  the 
Gaelic-speaking  portion  of  the  population. 

It  is  not,  however,  within  the  province  of  this 
book  to  discuss  the  precise  demarcation  of  the 
Highlands ;  and  it  will  therefore  be  understood 
that  the  area  herein  referred  to  embraces  the  district 
popularly  known  as  strictly  Highland  ground. 

The  region  is  wild  and  mountainous,  intersected 
with  many  large  and  picturesque  lochs  traversing 
the  country  generally  in  a  north-easterly  and  south- 
westerly direction ;  and  although  the  country  is  of 
a  wild  savage  nature,  yet  many  rich,  fertile  straths 
and  glens  are  interspersed  among  the  mountains, 
and  wide  stretches  of  fruitful  alluvial  plains  are 
scattered  along  the  seaboard  and  along  the  river 
valleys.  Except  at  a  considerable  altitude,  the 
mountains  offer  rich  grazing  for  cattle  and  sheep, 
while  the  higher  grounds  afford  sustenance  for 
deer,  and  a  quiet  retreat  for  the  various  kinds  of 
game  so  plentiful  in  the  Highlands.  The  coast 
line  is  wild,  rugged,  and  indented  with  long  arms 
of  the  sea  or  lochs,  running  far  up  into  the  interior, 
and  these  lochs  are  at  seasons  of  the  year  visited 
by  shoals  of  herrings,  which  are  caught  by  the 
fishing  population  along  the  shores.  The  herring 
and  other  fish  are  a  source  of  considerable  income 


Definition — Area.  19 

to  the  country,  but  as  this  subject  is  referred  to  in 
another  chapter  I  shall  dismiss  it  at  present. 
Scattered  along  the  western  seaboard  are  numerous 
islands,  which  are  divided  into  two  groups — called 
the  Inner  and  Outer  Hebrides.  These  islands 
form  detached  portions  of  the  Highlands,  and  they 
have  a  still  more  rugged  coast  than  the  mainland, 
being  scattered  and  battered  by  the  incessant  roll 
of  the  wild  Atlantic  waves. 


20       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


POPULATION. 

HE  Highlands  are  now  very  sparsely  popu- 
lated, even  when  compared  with  the  most 
gj©  impoverished  agricultural  county  of  Ireland. 
Take  for  illustration  the  extensive  and  by  no 
means  barren  county  of  Inverness,  with  an  area  of 
4088  square  miles  and  a  population  of  90,454,  being 
only  a  density  of  22*10  inhabitants  to  a  square 
mile  ;  whereas  county  Gal  way  in  Ireland  has  103*11 
inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.  Again  Sutherland- 
shire  will  compare  still  more  unfavourably  with 
county  Mayo  in  Ireland — the  latter  one  of  the 
poorest  counties  in  Great  Britain  or  Ireland — being 
situated  on  the  bleak  and  barren  western  seaboard, 
which  yet  has  120  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile, 
while  in  Sutherlandshire  there  are  barely  11^. 
Whether  or  not  there  are  means  of  subsistence  for 
a  larger  population  the  reader  is  allowed  to  draw  his 
own  inference,  from  the  above  and  the  following 
facts. 

The  appended  table  will  show  at  a  glance  the 
amount  of  depopulation  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
following  counties  since  1841 :  — 


Population. 

21 

Population  in 

Name  of  County. 

1841. 

1881. 

Decrease. 

Increase. 

Argyll, 

-      97,371 

76,468 

20,903 

— 

Caithness,   - 

-      36,343 

38,865 

— 

2,522 

Inverness,  - 

-      97,799 

90,454 

7,345 

— 

Nairn, 

9,217 

10,455 

— 

1,238 

Perth, 

-     137,457 

129,007 

8,450 

— 

Ross  and  Cromarty, 

-       78,685 

78,547 

138 

— 

Sutherland, 

-       24,782 

23,370 

1,412 

— 

According  to  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  in 
five  of  the  above  counties  there  is  a  total  decrease  of 
38,248,  and  were  we  to  take  into  consideration  the 
increase  of  population  in  towns,  the  percentage  of 
rural  depopulation  would  show  a  corresponding  de- 
crease. Inverness,  for  instance,  had  a  population 
of  only  12,575  in  1841.  The  actual  population 
within  the  Old  Burgh  boundary  in  1841  was  11,575, 
but  I  have  added  1,000  to  include  portions  now 
embraced  within  the  Parliamentary  Boundary 
extension  of  1847  ;  while  the  burgh  census  of  1881 
records  17,385,  being  an  increase  of  4,810,  which 
number  should  be  added  to  the  rural  depopulation 
column  for  the  entire  county,  and  therefore  we  may 
assume  that  the  actual  decrease  in  the  countv  of 
Inverness,  during  the  forty  years  above  referred  to, 
is  something  like  10,000,  allowing  2,158  as  a  fair 
increase  for  the  burgh.     It  will  also  be  seen  that 


22       The  Higldands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

two  counties — Caithness  and  Nairn — show  a  slight 
increase,  but  these  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
great  development,  in  recent  years,  of  the  herring 
industry  at  Wick,  and  by  the  popularity  of  the 
town  of  Nairn  as  a  watering-place  and  health  resort. 
The  combined  counties  of  Ross  and  Cromarty  show 
but  a  small  decrease  between  the  periods  quoted  in 
table ;  but  were  the  census  of  1851  taken  when  the 
population  reached  32,707,  we  should  hare  a 
decrease  of  4,160  in  thirty  years.* 


*  The  total  increase  of  population  of  the  Highlands  and 
Islands  (including  Orkney  and  Zetland)  from  1755  to  1821 
has  heen  118,213.  Three-fourths  of  the  population  speak 
the  Gaelic  language,  the  number  of  persons  understanding 
English  better  than  Gaelic  being  133,699,  that  of  persons 
more  proficient  in  Gaelic  303,153. —  Vide  Prize  Essay  by 
John  Anderson,  F. S.A.Scot.,  Highland  Society  Transactions, 
1831. 


Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants.     23 


CHARACTER  AND  CONDITION  OF  THE 
INHABITANTS. 

HERE  are  as  distinctive  characteristic  features 
of  difference  between  the  Highland  and  Low- 
land population  of  Scotland  as  there  are  in 
the  physical  demarcation  line  of  the  two  divi- 
sions of  the  country.  The  Highlanders,  socially 
and  physically,  are  an  entirely  distinct  people  from 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Lowlands.  Their  language, 
dress,  pursuits  and  customs  are  totally  unlike  those 
of  the  Southerner.  The  Highlanders  or  Celtic  Scoti 
at  the  same  time  have  always  been  sub-divided  into 
two  groups — the  Hebridean  and  the  Mainland 
Celts.  When  the  Irish  Scoti  race  moved  north- 
wards from  the  coast  of  Antrim  they  diverged  into 
two  streams,  one  branching  north-eastward  and  on 
the  mainland,  and  the  other  streaming  away  north 
and  north-west  among  the  Hebridean  Islands. 
The  Hebridean  race  on  their  northward  course 
encountered  the  Scandinavians  moving  southward, 
while  the  Mainland  Celts  came  in  contact  with  the 
Picts,  and  later  on  with  the  Saxons,  this  contact  and 
intermingling  of  the  different  races  causing  a  cer- 


24       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

tain  amount  of  amalgamation  and  fusing,  as  it  were,, 
of  the  various  tribes  into  a  distinct  race,  essentially 
different  from  the  Irish  Celts — their  original  pro- 
genitors— and  also  different  from  each  other;  and 
hence  we  find  in  the  Western  Highlands  what  we 
may  call  the  Scandinavian  Celt,  and  the  Picto-Celt 
in  the  eastern  and  midland  districts.  Undoubtedly 
in  the  portions  of  the  country  originally  peopled  by 
the  Celtic  race  lying  south  of  the  Highland  bound- 
ary, and  which  had  originally  been  peopled  by  the 
Celtic  race,  there  was  effected  a  gradual  alienation 
from  the  old  and  rude  Celtic  customs,  and  an 
adoption  of  the  more  civilized  institutions  of  the 
Saxons. 

It  took  many  years  after  the  rebellion  of  1745 
before  the  hitherto  turbulent  spirit  in  the  High- 
lands subsided ;  but  with  the  dawn  of  the  new 
century,  the  peaceful  influences  of  civilizing  enter- 
prise seemed  to  renovate  the  war-worn  and  jaded 
Highlander  with  an  amount  of  vigour  and  energy 
which  I  fear  has  not  since  then  been  manifesting 
itself  in  the  same  forcible  manner ;  for  we  find  that 
industry,  education,  and  the  general  development 
of  the  natural  resources  of  the  country  received  at 
that  time  such  an  impulse  that,  in  the  few  years 
embraced  in  the  first  quarter  of  that  century,  the 


A   Highland  Officer  of  the   Present  Century. 


V  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


>F 


Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants,     25 

country  assumed  a  comparative  position  in  the  com- 
mercial world  that  perhaps  no  other  country  under 
the  sun  can  lay  claim  to  as  having  achieved  at  a 
single  stride  within  the  same  period.  The  powerful 
natural  energies  of  the  Highland  people,  which, 
previous  to  the  pacification  of  the  country,  were 
wasted  on  petty  feuds  and  contentious  rebellions 
against  the  crown — a  misconceived  Celtic  idea  of 
genuine  loyalty  to  their  chiefs — we  find  developing 
and  progressing  to  that  exalted  position  which 
ranks  the  Scottish  Highlander  so  high  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world.  The  martial  spirit  of  their 
ancestors  still  holds  sway  in  the  dispositions  of  true 
Highlanders ;  and  multitudes  of  the  sturdy  sons 
of  the  4'land  of  brown  heath  and  shaggy  wood" 
have  displayed  their  warlike  and  chivalrous  spirit 
on  many  a  bloody  battlefield  during  the  last  cen- 
tury; and  should  Britain's  cause  require  his 
assistance  to-day,  the  Highland  warrior's  arm  is  as 
vigorous  to  wield  his  broad  claymore  or  handle  the 
rifle,  and  his  courage  is  as  undaunted  to  face  the 
foe,  "  as  when  heretofore  he  marshalled  for  the  law- 
less foray,  or  shed  his  blood  in  the  shock  of  con- 
flicting clans. " 

A  writer  in  " Blackwood's  Magazine"  in  1836,. 
speaking  of  the  character  of  the  Highlander,  says 


26       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

— "We  love  the  people  too  well  to  praise  tlieni — we 
have  had  heartfelt  experience  in  their  virtues.  In 
castle,  hall,  house,  manse,  hut,  hovel,  and  shieling 
— on  mountain  and  moor,  we  have  known  without 
having  to  study  their  character.  It  manifests  itself 
in  their  manner,  in  their  whole  frame  of  life.  They 
are  now  as  they  were,  affectionate,  faithful,  and 
fearless  ;  and  far  more  delightful  surely  it  is  to  see 
such  qualities  in  all  their  pristine  strength — for 
civilization  has  not  weakened  nor  ever  will  weaken 
them — without  the  alloy  of  fierceness  and  ferocity 
which  was  inseparable  from  them  in  the  turbulence 
of  feudal  times.  They  are  now  a  peaceful  people ; 
severe  as  are  the  hardships  of  their  condition,  they 
are  in  the  main  contented  with  it ;  and  nothing 
short  of  necessity  can  drive  them  from  their  dear 
mountains. " 

Although  more  than  half  a  century  has  elapsed 
since  the  above  was  written,  it  may  still  be  applied  to 
the  average  Highlander.  The  Saxon  reckons  the  Celt 
a  lazy  animal ;  and  not  only  do  the  Irish  lie  under 
this  stigma,  but  the  Scoto-Celt  is  classed  as  equally 
indolent,  and  perhaps,  in  a  sense,  John  Bull,  with 
his  advanced  notions  of  social  and  political 
-economy,  is  partly  justified  in  asserting  this.  But 
when  we  consider  the  circumstances  and  the  isolated 


Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants.     27 

position  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  west  of  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  we  should  not  judge  too  harshly. 
Removed  far  from  the  centres  of  industry,  with  no 
opportunity  of  obtaining  regular  employment,  ill 
fed  and  poorly  clad,  need  we  wonder  at  their  lapsing 
into  a  state  of  what  some  people  imagine  to  be 
indolence  ? 

The  Scottish  Highlander  of  the  littoral  districts 
is  engaged  during  part  of  the  year  at  the  fishing, 
or  training  in  the  Militia  or  Royal  Naval  Reserve 
Corps;  and  when  these  occupations  are  over,  he 
wanders  home  to  his  bleak  moorland  holding  to 
secure  his  scanty  crops  of  corn  and  potatoes.  What 
can  he  now  do  during  the  long  dreary  winter  but 
mope  about  in  idleness ;  for  were  he  even  disposed 
to  improve  his  land  the  severe  Highland  winter 
prevents  him ;  and,  were  he  anxious  to  do  a  day's 
fishing,  the  tempestuous  sea  and  a  dangerous  coast 
will  prohibit  him.  These  surroundings,  therefore, 
tend  to  unnerve  and  suck  the  very  ambition  from 
their  souls,  so  that  they  never  seek  to  rise  from  the 
prison  house  of  their  mean  estate.  Were  this 
people  taught  home  arts  and  industries,  these  would 
not  only  help  them  to  pass  the  dreary  winter,  but 
would  form  a  source  of  income,  and  would  ulti- 
mately   be    the    means    of    elevating    their    social 


:cal 


28       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

position  and  stimulating  them  to  uproot  themselves; 
from  the  "bogs  of  immemorial  routine."* 

I  must  not,  however,  overlook  the  record  made 
by  General  Stewart  of  Garth  in  his  excellent  work, 
14 Sketches  of  the  Highlanders."  Speaking  of  the 
charge  of  indolence  made  against  them,  he  men- 
tions the  fact  that  during  the  construction  of  the 
Caledonian  Canal  very  few  Highlanders  availed 
themselves  of  this  constant  and  well-paid  labour 
offered  them  in  the  very  heart  of  their  own  country. 
This  at  the  time  was  attributed  to  their  natural 
lazy  disposition ;  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  at  the- 
very  time  they  refused  work  at  their  doors,  thou- 
sands nocked  southward  in  search  of  employment. 
General  Stewart  refutes  the  charge  of  laziness  by 
ascribing  it  to  Highland  ambition ;  and,  un- 
doubtedly, the  recollection  of  their  former 
independence  under  the  feudal  or  clan  system  pre- 
vented them  from  accepting  a  labourer's  hire  in 

*  Since  these  lines  were  written  the  Home  Industries 
Associations,  in  whose  useful  work  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland 
takes  such  a  noble  part,  and  other  similar  organizations,  have 
worked  a  social  revolution  in  Highland  homes.  In  many 
parts  of  the  Highlands  and  Islands  the  people  are  actively 
employed  in  weaving,  knitting,  carving,  and  other  suitable 
home  occupations,  the  remuneration  for  which  adds  consider- 
ably to  their  limited  income. 


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Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants.     29 

sight  of  the  scenes  which  once  witnessed  them  in 
better  circumstances.  The  semi-military  life  they 
also  led,  together  with  their  constant  contemplation 
of  the  renown  of  their  noble  ancestors,  imbued 
them  with  the  notion  that  they  were  "gentlemen" 
in  comparison  with  their  Lowland  brethren,  and 
their  supreme  contempt  for  any  commercial  or 
servile  pursuit  served  to  make  them  look  upon 
manual  work  as  degrading  and  dishonourable. 
Perhaps  if  I  quote  from  the  late  Professor  Walker 
it  will  illustrate  more  clearly  what  I  wish  to  show. 
He  says: — "Wherever  the  Highlanders  are  de- 
fective in  industry,  it  will  be  found,  upon  fair 
enquiry,  to  be  rather  their  misfortune  than  their 
fault,  and  owing  to  their  want  of  knowledge  and 
opportunity,  rather  than  to  any  want  of  spirit  for 
labour.  Their  disposition  to  industry  is  greater 
than  is  usually  imagined,  and  if  judiciously  directed 
is  capable  of  being  highly  advantageous  both  to 
themselves  and  to  their  country. "  This  forecast 
has  proved  true ;  for  to-day  Highlanders  may  be 
found  all  over  the  world  occupying  positions  of 
honour  and  trust. 

The  hospitality  of  the  Highlanders  once  upon  a 
time  was  unbounded ;  but  since  the  Saxon  has 
invaded  their  land,  they  have  become  more  or  less 


^£t 


%hs^H  1 


30       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

contaminated,  and  the  greed  for  gold  has  developed. 
Donald's  erroneous  idea  that  English  tourists  are 
actually  rolling  in  money  leads  him  to  overreach 
his  conscience  in  matters  of  pecuniary  detail ;  and 
hence  the  defamatory  reports  of  the  avaricious 
disposition  of  the  Highlander.  A  Highland 
Chieftain's  house  was  always  open ;  and  the  law  of 
hospitality  and  politeness  forbade  him,  until  a  year 
had  passed,  to  enquire  of  his  guest  what  business 
lie  had  called  upon.  Perhaps  nothing  can  more 
beautifully  and  graphically  illustrate  pure  High- 
land hospitality  and  confidence  than  the  circum- 
stances attending  "  The  Massacre  of  Glencoe  :  — 

"  And  tho'  in  them  Glencoe's  devoted  men 
Beheld  the  foes  of  all  who  held  their  name, 
Yet  simple  faith  allowed  the  stranger's  claim 
To  hospitable  cheer  and  welcome  kind  ; 
Undreaming  that  a  Highland  hand  could  shame 
The  ancient  faith — the  sacred  ties  that  bind 
The  guest  to  him  beside  whose  hearth  he  hath  reclined." 

I  may  be  pardoned  for  here  quoting  Pennant's 
description  of  the  character  of  the  Highlanders ; 
and  although  the  date  of  "Pennant's  Tour"  is 
somewhat  earlier  than  the  period  embraced  in  this 
work,  the  description  would,  nevertheless,  be  as 
applicable  at  any  stage  of  the  present  century  as 


Character  and  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants.     31 

it  was  in  1769.  "The  manner  of  the  native  High- 
lander, v  says  Pennant,  "may  justly  be  described 
in  these  words :  indolent  to  a  high  degree  unless 
roused  to  war,  or  to  any  animated  amusements ; 
or,  I  may  say,  from  experience,  to  lend  any  dis- 
interested assistance  to  the  distressed  traveller, 
either  in  directing  him  on  his  way  or  affording  their 
aid  in  passing  the  dangerous  torrents  of  the  High- 
lands ;  hospitable  to  the  highest  degree,  and  full  of 
generosity ;  are  much  affected  with  the  civility  of 
strangers,  and  have  in  themselves  a  natural  polite- 
ness and  address  which  often  flows  from  the  meanest 
when  least  expected.  Through  my  whole  tour  I 
never  met  with  a  single  instance  of  national 
reflection,  their  forbearance  proves  them  to  be 
superior  to  the  meanness  of  retaliation.  I  fear 
they  pity  us,  but  I  hope  not  indiscriminately. 
Are  excessively  inquisitive  after  your  business,  your 
name,  and  other  particulars  of  little  consequence 
to  them,  most  curious  after  the  politics  of  the  world, 
and  when  they  procure  an  old  newspaper  will  listen 
to  it  with  the  avidity  of  Shakespeare's  blacksmith. 
Have  much  pride  and  consequently  are  impatient 
of  affronts  and  revengeful  of  injuries."  In  the 
main  Pennant's  description  still  holds  good  when 
applied  to  the  average  Highlander,  yet  much  of 


32       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

the  original  character  of  the  genuine  son  of  the 
mountain  has  been  destroyed.  The  rough  and 
ragged  edges  of  honest  simplicity  have  been  rubbed 
off  by  the  so-called  polishing  influences  of  society, 
and  the  sturdy  independence  and  self  reliance  of 
their  ancestors  are  now  being  supplanted  by,  I 
fear,  less  commendable  qualities,  and  they  are 
gradually  having  transfused  into  them  the  Saxon 
and  Southern  elements.  This  is  one  of  the  un- 
avoidable results  of  the  development  of  civilization, 
and  although,  in  a  sense,  it  may  be  a  source  of 
regret  to  the  enthusiastic  patriot  that  the  good  old 
Highland  character  is  being  gradually  obliterated, 
still  the  Highlands  and  Highlanders  have  bene- 
fitted in  no  small  degree  from  their  intercourse 
with  the  English  nation,  and  they  still  retain  the 
inestimable  virtues  of  integrity  and  charity. 

Sir  John  Dalrymple  has  observed  of  the  High- 
landers:— "That  to  be  modest  as  well  as  brave,  to 
l)e  contented  with  a  few  things  which  nature 
requires,  to  act  and  to  suffer  without  complaining, 
to  be  as  much  ashamed  of  doing  anything  insolent 
or  ungenerous  to  others  as  of  bearing  it  when  done 
to  ourselves,  and  to  die  with  pleasure  to  revenge 
affronts  offered  to  their  clan  or  their  country,  these 
are  accounted  their  highest  accomplishments.  H 


u,r— W.  t-^        /  (f. 


DOHA  LP  DOUL- DOHflLD  DOUL  -  DOllflLD  DOUL 
HEAR  ttE,flHD  TREMBLE. * 

Ghost  in  Background,  with  Highlander. 


Of     1  I  \ 

;NIVER3!TY    » 


n 


Superstitions,  Etc.  33 


SUPEESTITIONS,  Etc. 

"  The  gleaming  path  of  the  steel  winds  through  the  gloomy 
ghost.  The  form  fell  shapeless  into  air,  like  a  column  of 
smoke  which  the  staff  of  the  boy  disturbs  as  it  rises  from 
the  half  extinguished  furnace." — Ossian. 

HE  Highlanders  are  a  superstitious  people. 
Anyone  acquainted  with  their  finely  strung 
imagination,  and  the  weird,  wild  regions  they 
inhabit,  can  well  imagine — 

"  As  when  a  shepherd  of  the  Hebrid's  Isles, 
Placed  far  amid  the  melancholy  main, 
Whether  it  be  lone  fancy  him  beguiles, 
Or  that  aerial  spirits  sometimes  deign 
To  stand  embodied  to  our  senses  plain, 
Sees  on  the  naked  hill,  or  valley  low, 
The  while  in  ocean  Phoebus  dips  his  wane, 
A  vast  assembly  moving  to  and  fro, 
Then  all  at  once  in  air  dissolves  the  wondrous  show." 

— Thompson. 

Often  have  I  myself,  while  crossing  some  bleak 
moor,  or  traversing  a  lonely  deserted  glen,  ex- 
perienced a  weird  awe-stricken  feeling  ;  and  it  would 
require  but  very  little  imaginative  power  to  con- 


34       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

vert  a  grey  rock  or  a  waving  tuft  of  heather  inta 
a  filmy  ghost,  a  kelpie,  or  a  brownie.  Educational 
enlightenment  has  done  much  to  dispel  the  darkness 
of  superstitious  beliefs  which  enveloped  High- 
landers up  to  near  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century;  and  in  many  parts  of  the  Highlands,  at 
this  very  hour,  scores  of  apparently  very  sensible 
people  cling  to  the  creed  of  their  forefathers,  and 
are  firm  believers  in  the  existence  of  ghosts,  fairies, 
and  witches. 

Witchcraft  was  the  most  prevalent  superstition  ;• 
and  many  a  poor  decrepit  or  eccentric  individual 
suffered — under  the  very  eye  of  the  church — the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law,  branded  with  the 
appellation  of  wizard  or  witch.  Although  it  takes 
a  long  time  to  eradicate  a  belief,  when  once  rooted 
in  so  tenacious  and  conservative  a  mind  as  that 
possessed  by  the  Celt,  the  belief  in  witchcraft,  to 
the  extent  of  persecuting  the  supposed  subjects  of 
it,  is  well-nigh  extinct.  Tet  fairies,  ghosts,  and 
brownies  are  still  often  seen  hovering  about  some 
lonely  and  haunted  locality — if  reliance  may  be 
placed  on  the  statements  of  belated  travellers. 
Another  common  belief,  prevalent  all  over  the 
Highlands  fifty  years  ago,  and  in  some  degree 
believed  in  at  the  present  time — particularly  in  the- 


Superstitions,  Etc.  35 

western  isles — is  second  sight,  supposed  to  be  a 
supernatural  gift  whereby  the  seer  can  see  the 
distant  future,  and 

.     "  Framed  hideous  spells, 
In  Skye's  lone  isle  the  gifted  wizard  seer 
Lodged  in  the  wintry  cave,  with  fate's  fell  spear, 
Or  in  the  depths  of  Uist's  dark  forest  dwells. 


To  monarchs  dear,  some  hundred  miles  away, 
Oft  have  they  seen  fate  give  the  fatal  blow, 
The  Seer  in  Skye  shriek'd  as  the  blood  did  flow, 
When  headless  Charles  warm  on  the  scaffold  lay." 

The  Seer  was  a  very  reticent  and  mysterious  per- 
son, employing  enigmatical  language  when  disclos- 
ing any  of  his  prophecies  so  as  to  be  construed  to 

suit  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  they  were 
regarded   "as  men  to  whom  strange  things  had 

happened.  M 


36       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


ANCIENT  CUSTOMS  AND  FESTIVE 
AMUSEMENTS. 

ANY  of  the  ancient  customs  peculiar  to  the 
Highlands   are  being  Anglo-Saxonised,   or 
gradually  dying  out.       Hallowe'en  is  still 
celebrated  with  much  of  its  ancient  rites  and 
ceremonies,  and :  — 

"  The  auld  guidwife<s  weel  hoordet  nits 
Are  round  and  round  divided, 
And  mony  lads'  and  lasses'  fates 
Are  there  that  night  decided  ; 
Some  kindle,  couthie,  side  by  side, 
And  brin  thegither  trimly  ; 
Some  start  awa'  wi'  saucy  pride 
And  jump  out  owre  the  chimlie, 
Fu'  high  that  night." 

These  lines  from  Burns's  "Hallowe'en"  refer  to 
the  custom  of  burning  nuts,  to  decide  if  some 
secretly  admired  one  would  yet  be  wooed  and  won. 
But  within  my  own  recollection  Hallowe'en  festivi- 
ties have  lost  much  of  the  enthusiasm  and  excite- 
ment once  associated  with  them.  Many  of  the 
ancient  games  and  pastimes    of    the    country  are 


Ancient  Customs  and  Festive  Amusements.      37 

neglected  or  abolished.  The  " Northern  Meeting" 
has  done  more  than  any  other  institution  I  know  of 
towards  promoting  and  stimulating  the  continu- 
ance of  the  manly  and  athletic  sports  so  peculiar  to 
the  Highlands.  Where  can  you  see  a  finer  gather- 
ing of  strapping,  stalwart  fellows,  and  of  noble, 
commanding,  and  lovely  women,  than  at  the 
Northern  Meetings  in  Inverness?  While  the 
institution  has  done  much  towards  developing  and 
perpetuating  the  national  music — and  in  this  respect 
I  must  not  omit  the  minor  kindred  societies  and 
associations  which  I  am  glad  to  see  springing  up 
in  almost  every  parish — yet  I  will  venture  to  sug- 
gest that  the  usefulness  and,  I  may  assert,  the 
attractiveness  of  the  meeting  might  be  greatly 
extended  were  prizes  offered  for  the  best  web  of 
home  spun  cloth,  tartan  plaid,  the  best  knitted  pair 
of  hose,  or  other  articles  of  home  manufacture,  so 
as  to  kindle  the  desire  for  industry  among  the 
peasantry. 


38       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


RELIGION. 

COTLAND  is  a  Presbyterian  nation.  Roman 
Catholicism,  and  Episcopacy  have  often 
endeavoured  to  gain  the  ascendency,  but  the 
former  as  a  national  religion  died  with  James 
Beaton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and  only  in  very 
remote  regions  of  the  Highlands  did  popery  find 
space  to  raise  its  head.  Recently,  however,  it  has 
apparently  been  regaining  vitality,  and  the  re- 
establishment  by  the  Pope  of  the  Scots  Hierarchy 
has  given  a  stimulus  to  a  creed  which  was  fast 
falling  into  decay  in  the  Highlands.  Episcopacy 
received  a  very  crushing  blow  at  the  time  of  the 
memorable  '45,  whose  echo  rings  through  Scotland 
to  this  hour,  and  from  then  till  the  middle  of  the 
present  century  it  struggled  to  keep  itself  rooted 
in  Scottish  soil;  but  in  recent  years  it  has  been 
asserting  its  position  in  the  Highlands  to  such  an 
extent,  that  the  erection  of  a  magnificent  Cathedral 
in  Inverness  and  the  creation  of  a  new  See  indicate 
that  its  roots  have  again  dipped  into  good  soil  in. 
the  North,  and  that  the  independence-dreaming 
Presbyterian   creed  of  the   Highlands  is   succumb- 


Religion.  39 

ing  to  the  once  despised  and  rejected  Prelatic 
form  of  religion.  The  Established  Church  of 
Scotland  is  in  a  minority  in  the  Highlands 
when  compared  with  the  United  Free  Church 
and  other  dissenting  Presbyterian  bodies.  In 
1843,  what  has  been  called  the  Disruption  took 
place,  whereby  451  ministers*  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  resigned  their  livings  and  formed  them- 
selves into  a  religious  body  called  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland.  The  main  causes  of  this  secession  may 
be  ascribed  partly  to  certain  abuses  in  the  patronage 
system,  and  partly  to  the  looseness  of  the  Presby- 
teries in  licensing  unsuitable  persons  to  be 
preachers.  Patronage  had  been  previously  twice 
abolished  and  reinstated  again  by  Parliament. 
This  Act  empowered  the  patron  of  a  living  to 
appoint  as  minister  his  own  nominee  without  con- 
sulting either  the  congregation  or  the  Presbytery. 
There  is  no  essential  .difference  between  the 
doctrines  of  the  Established  Church  and  those  of 
the  United  Free  Church,  and  now  that  the  obstacle  of 
patronage  is  abolished,  it  seems  a  matter  of  regret 
that  the  two  bodies  do  not  unite,  and  thereby  instil 


*  Of  these  451,  289  were  Parish  and  162  Quoad  Sacra 
Ministers,  or  Ministers  of  Chapels  of  Ease. 


40       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

new  life  and  vigour  into  a  Free  United 
Established  Church  for  the  advancement  of 
a  true  and  not  spurious  Christianity  in  Scot- 
land. It  is  lamentable  to  think  that  petty 
jealousies  and  ill-feeling  often  exist  between  the 
adherents  of  the  two  churches.*  Notwithstanding 
all  this,  the  Highland  peasantry  are  a  religious 
people,  and  I  venture  to  affirm  that  in  no  country 
in  the  world  is  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day 
more  rigorously  enforced  or  more  strictly  adhered 
to  than  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 

"  How  softly,  Scotia,  falls  the  Sabbath's  calm 

O'er  thy  hushed  valleys,  and  thy  listening  hills  ; 
And,  oh  !  how  purifying  is  the  balm 

Of  that  day's  peace  which  then  the  bosom  tills  ! " 

To  some  minds,  perhaps,  this  unduly  rigoroufr 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  day  may  seem  extrava- 
gant, and  when  carried  to  extremes  often  appears 
ludicrous.  Professor  Blackie  illustrates  an 
instance  when  he  ventured  to  pass  a  remark  on  the 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  a  serious  schism  has 
occurred  between  the  United  Free  Church  and  the  little 
Body  that  has  vindicated  for  herself  the  name  of  "  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland."  There  is  now  much  bitterness  of 
feeling  between  these  two  Churches.     This  is  a  great  pity. 


Religion.  41 

weather  to  a  Skye  elder  on  the  Sabbath  day.  "A 
fine  day/*  said  the  Professor.  "Ay, "  retorted 
the  elder,  "a  fine  day  indeed,  but  is  this  a  day  to 
be  speaking  about  days?"  This  morose  or 
44  gloomy  religion"  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  Free 
Churchmen ;  the  Established  Church  adherents,  or 
44  Moderates, M  as  they  are  called,  are  somewhat  more 
lax  and  advanced.  Before  closing  these  remarks  on 
the  religion  of  the  Highlands  I  must  touch  briefly 
on  the  Sacraments  or  Highland  Communion.  The 
44  Sacrament'1  is  a  great  event  in  a  Highland 
parish,  and  thousands  of  people  flock  from  every 
district  to  attend.  It  extends  over  five  days — 
Thursday,  44the  little  Sabbath  or  Fast-day;' 
Friday,  when  the  44Men"  address  the  people  and 
pray;  Saturday,  a  day  of  preparation;  Sabbath, 
the  great  day  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper;  and  Monday,  a  day  of  solemn  farewell. 
On  Sunday  the  Gaelic  services  are  held  in  the 
open  air,  as  no  building  sufficiently  large  can  %^ 
found  to  contain  so  vast  an  assemblage. 


42        The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


EDUCATION. 

HE  current  belief  that  Scotland  is  such  a 
well  educated  nation  is  erroneous  in  the 
extreme,  for  this  supposed  universal  "diffu- 
sion of  education,  M  particularly  in  the  High- 
lands, is  anything  but  true  ;  and  although  Scotland 
has  long  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  the  best 
educated  nation  in  Europe — and  as  far  as 
University  education  is  concerned  that  is  un- 
doubtedly true — still  we  find  that  the  Commission 
appointed  to  enquire  into  the  educational  state  of 
the  Highlands  in  1818  found  that  portion  of  the 
kingdom  sadly  destitute  of  facilities  for  elementary 
learning.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  by  the 
S.P.C.K.  and  the  Church,  little  progress  was  made 
until  the  "  Grants  in  Aid  "  system  was  established  in 
1839,  which  gave  an  impetus  to  the  educational 
machinery  of  the  poorer  districts  of  the  Highlands. 

Again  the  Free  Church,  shortly  after  the  Dis- 
ruption,   in    order    to    vie    with    the    Parish    or 


Education.  43 

Established  Church  schools,  erected,  in  almost  every 
parish,  schools  in  which  the  children  of  their 
denomination  were  taught,  perhaps  not  in  so  effi- 
cient a  degree  as  in  the  Parish  school,  nevertheless 
they  created  a  healthy  spirit  of  rivalry,  which 
benefitted  in  no  small  degree  the  educational 
development  of  the  country.  The  passing  of  the 
Education  Act  of  1872  was  the  means  of  placing  all 
the  schools  in  a  parish  under  the  direct  manage- 
ment of  a  Board,  elected  triennially  by  the  rate- 
payers. This  School  Board  has  full  control  over 
the  teachers,  regulates  the  course  of  instruction, 
and  was  empowered  to  levy  a  rate  to  meet  any 
deficiency  not  covered  by  the  Government  Grant 
and  school  fees.*  In  the  poorer  and  more  thinly 
populated  parishes  the  education  rate  was  often 
excessive :  in  the  parish  of  Lochs  it  reached  4s.  6d. 
in  the  £,  while  in  Barvas  it  attained  to  the  high 
figure  of  5s.  8d.  in  the  £.  In  these  two  parishes 
the  poor  rate  was  fixed  at  4s.  8d.  and  4s.  6d.  in  the  £ 
respectively.  Whether  the  new  system  is  an 
improvement  on  the  old  Parochial  one  remains  yet 
to  be  seen  ;  but  I  fear  very  much  that  the  high 
pressure  under  which  it  is  worked  does  not  make 


*  Sohool  fees  are  now  abolished  in  Board  Schools. 


44       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

the  same  lasting  impression  on  the  young  mind  as 
did  the  slow,  steady  grinding  under  the  old  Parish 
Dominie.  Dr.  Norman  Macleod,  in  his  "  Remini- 
scences of  a  Highland  Parish,"  depicts  with  life- 
like touches  the  quiet  peaceful  life  of  the  parsh 
schoolmaster,  passed  among  the  solitudes  of  some 
wild  Highland  glen.  "The  glory,"  Dr.  Macleod 
says,  "of  the  old  Scots  teacher  of  this  stamp  was 
to  ground  his  pupils  thoroughly  in  the  elements  of 
Greek  and  Latin.  He  hated  all  shams,  and  placed 
little  value  on  what  was  acquired  without  labour. 
To  master  details,  to  stamp  grammar  rules, 
thoroughly  understood,  upon  the  minds  of  his 
pupils  as  with  a  pen  of  iron ;  to  move  slowly  but 
accurately  through  a  classic,  this  was  his  delight ; 
not  his  work  only,  but  his  recreation,  the  outlet  for 
his  tastes  and  energies.'  ...  "I  like  to  call  those 
old  teachers  to  remembrance.  Take  them  all  in 
all  they  were  a  singular  body  of  men  ;  their  humble 
homes  and  poor  salaries  and  hard  work  presented  a 
remarkable  contrast  to  their  manners,  abilities,  and 
literary  culture.  Scotland  owes  to  them  a  debt  of 
gratitude  that  never  can  be  repaid,  and  many  a 
successful  minister,  lawyer,  and  physician  is  able 
to  recall  some  one  of  those  old  teachers  as  nis 
earliest  and  best  friend,  who  first  kindled  in  him 


Education.  45 

the  love  of  learning  and  helped  him  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge  under  difficulties."  Then  there  is 
"Domsie"  of  Ian  McLaren's  creation,  whose  proto- 
type is  still  often  met  with  in  the  Highlands. 


■ 


46       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


DOMESTIC  LIFE. 

OMESTIC  life  in  the  Highlands  may  be 
divided  into  three  classes — the  Lairds,  large 
Farmers  and  Crofters.  The  Lairds  or  Land  Lords 
have  large  and  elegant  castles  or  mansions  ; 
and  the  majority  of  them  live  in  luxury  and  main- 
tain large  and  expensive  establishments.  The 
extraordinary  demand  for  land,  for  agricultural  and 
sporting  purposes,  caused  a  corresponding  increase 
in  the  value  of  this  class  of  property,  but  recent 
depression  of  trade  has  considerably  reduced  the 
rentals  of  several  large  estates,  resulting  in  the  cut- 
ting down  of  expenditure,  and  this  will  be  a  loss 
very  severely  felt  by  many  poor  workmen  who  were 
wholly  dependant  on  the  employment  they  con- 
stantly obtained  about  the  "Big  Hoose. '  Up  to 
the  middle  of  last  century,  large  and  middle  class 
tenantry  were  ill  accommodated ;  but  now  few 
indeed  there  are  who  have  not  handsome  and  com- 
modious dwelling-houses  and  offices.  The  crofters 
and  cottars  on  the  other  hand,  we  may  safely 
assume,  are  still  in  some  places  not  one  whit  better 
than  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago.     Their  habit a- 


# 


Domestic  Life.  4T 

tions  are  but  miserable  hovels,  in  many  cases  the 
walls  being  built  of  turf,  with  a  few  cabers, 
thatched  with  heather,  for  a  roof  ;  while  an  opening 
in  the  roof  serves  the  two-fold  purpose  of  allowing 
the  peat  reek  to  escape  and  admitting  a  dim  light 
« — for  in  many  cases  there  are  no  windows.  The 
floors  are  formed  of  clay  beaten  down  to  a  hard 
surface,  which  in  dry  weather  serves  the  purpose 
very  efficiently,  but  in  wet  weather  forms  into  a 
slushy  puddle.  I  am  now  referring  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  dwellings  in  some  parts  of  the 
Western  Isles — on  the  mainland  considerable  im- 
provements have  been  effected  on  many  estates 
within  the  last  ten  to  twenty  years — on  the  dwell- 
ings of  both  crofters  and  cottars.*  Miss  Gordon 
Gumming,  in  her  interesting  work  "In  the 
Hebrides,  "  published  in  1883,  graphically  describes 
a  South  Uist  crofter's  "  Home,  Sweet  Home, H  as  she 
calls  it,  in  the  following  words: — " Right  across 
the  island  the  road  is  built  upon  a  narrow  stone 
causeway,  which  is  carried  in  a  straight  line  over 
moor  and  moss,  bog  and  loch,  and  which  grows 
worse  and  worse  year  by  year.       Such  miserable 


*  Since  the  passing  of  the  Crofter  Act,  in  many  townships- 
substantial  houses  have  been  erected  by  the  crofters. 


48       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

human  beings  as  have  been  compelled  to  settle  in 
this  dreary  district,  having  been  evicted  from  com- 
paratively  good   crofts,    are   probably   poorer   and 
more  wretched — their  hovels  more  squalid,   their 
filth  more  unavoidable,  than  any  others  in  the  isles 
— the  huts  clustering  together  in  the  middle  of  the 
sodden  morass,  from  which  are  dug  the  damp  turfs 
which  form  both  walls  and  roof,  and  through  these 
the  rain  oozes,  falling  with  dull  drip    upon    the 
earthen  floor,  where  the  half-naked  children  crawl 
about  among  the  puddles,  which  form  even  around 
the  hearth — if  such  a  word  may  be  used  to  describe 
&  mere  hollow  in  the  floor,  where  the  sodden  peats 
smoulder  as  though  they  had  no  energy  to  burn. 
Outside    of    each    threshold    lie    black   quagmires 
crossed  by  stepping  stones — drainage  being  appar- 
ently   deemed    impossible.       Yet    with    all    this 
abundance  of  misplaced  muddy  water,  some  of  the 
townships  have  to  complain    of    the    difficulty  of 
procuring  a  supply  of  pure  water,  that  which  has 
drained  through  the  peat  moss    being    altogether 
unfit  for  drinking  or  cooking. 

44  Small  wonder  that  the  children  born  and  reared 
in  such  surroundings  should  be  puny  and  sickly, 
and  their  elders  listless  and  dispirited,  with  no  heart 
left  to  battle  against  such  circumstances.     Exist- 


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Domes  tie  Life.  49 

ence  in  such  hovels  must  be  almost  unendurable  to 
the  strong  and  healthy,  but  what  must  it  be  in  the 
times  of  sickness?  The  medical  officer  of  this 
district  states  officially  that  much  fever  prevails 
here,  distinctly  due  to  under  feeding.  He  says, 
two  families  often  live  in  the  same  house,  and  that 
he  has  attended  eight  persons  in  one  room  all  ill 
with  fever,  and  seven  or  eight  other  persons  were 
obliged  to  sleep  in  the  same  room,  "t 

The  foregoing  picture,  which,  alas !  is  too  true, 
does  not,  however,  depict  the  prevailing  state  of 
matters  in  the  Hebrides  generally ;  but  taking  the 
most  advanced  townships  in  any  part  of  the  High- 
lands or  Islands  of  Scotland  in  this  enlightened 

t  Dr.  Ogilvy  Grant,  Medical  Officer  for  the  County  of 
Inverness,  has  some  very  interesting  statistics  in  his  report 
for  1897.  He  finds  that  the  average  length  of  life  is  seven 
years  shorter  in  the  Islands  than  on  the  Mainland.  Dr. 
Grant  attributes  the  recent  serious  epidemic  of  typhus  fever 
in  Skye  to  the  insanitary  state  of  the  townships  and  con- 
taminated water  supply.  It  is,  however,  gratifying  to  learn 
that  the  District  Councils  are  steadily  forming  special  water 
supply  districts,  and  that  trained  nurses  are  being  stationed 
all  over  the  districts.  But  until  the  existing  wretched 
dwellings  are  substituted  by  cottages  built  on  modern 
sanitary  principles,  these  ever-recurring  epidemics  can  never 

hope  to  be  stamped  out. 

D 


OF  THE 


50       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

age,  we  find  the  sanitation  of  those  dwellings  in  a 
state  that  should  certainly  claim  the  immediate 
attention  of  the  Board  of  Supervision,  and  rather 
than  tolerate  a  recurrence  of  so  deplorable  and  so< 
demoralising  a  thing  as  to  allow  sixteen  persons  to 
occupy  one  room — eight  of  whom  were  down  with 
fever — the  Government  should  step  in  and  compel 
the  owners  to  supply  adequate  accommodation  and 
proper  sanitary  arrangements,  failing  which  State 
aid  should  be  granted,  and  thus  remove  from  our 
land  one  of  the  foulest  stains  that  ever  disgraced 
the  annals  of  a  civilized  country. 

Before  leaving  the  question  of  dwellings  I  will 
make  a  short  extract  from  the  report  of  Sir  John 
MacNeill,  who  specially  surveyed  the  Northern 
districts  of  Scotland  for  the  Government  in  1850. 
Sir  John  says: — "The  crofters'  houses,  erected  by 
themselves,  are  of  stone  and  earth  or  clay.  The 
only  materials  they  purchase  are  the  doors,  and  in 
most  cases  the  rafters  of  the  roof,  on  which  are  laid 
thin  turf  covered  with  thatch.  The  crofters'  fur- 
niture consists  of  some  rude  bedsteads,  a  table, 
some  stools,  chests,  and  a  few  cooking  utensils.  At 
one  end  of  the  house,  often  entering  by  the  same 
door,  is  the  byre  for  his  cattle,  at  the  other  the  barn 
for  his  crop.     His  fuel  is  the  peat  he  cuts  in  the 


Domestic  Life.  51 

neighbouring  moss,  of  which  an  allotted  portion  is 

often  attached  to  each  croft.     His  capital  consists 

of  his  cattle,  his  sheep,  and  perhaps  one  or  more 
horses  or  ponies  ;  of  his  crop,  that  is  to  feed  him  till 

next  harvest,  provide  seed  and  winter  provender 
for  his  animals ;  of  his  furniture,  his  implements, 
the  rafters  of  his  house,  and  generally  a  boat  or  a 
share  of  a  boat,  nets  or  other  fishing  gear,  with 
some  barrels  of  salt  herrings,  or  bundles  of  dried 
cod  or  ling  for  winter  use. " 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  sanitary  improvements 
in  the  Highlands  have  made  remarkable  progress 
during  the  last  century,  particularly  so  in  towns 
and  villages.  But  although  in  many  cases  rural 
districts  have  advanced  considerably,  still,  as  I  have 
already  shown,  much  yet  requires  to  be  done.  I 
presume  the  reader  is  fully  acquainted  with  the 
lovely  town  of  Inverness  with  its  charming  sur- 
roundings, its  commanding  views  of  miles  of  char- 
acteristic Highland  landscape,  with  the  winding 
silvery  Ness  and  its  wooded  islands  and  picturesque 
bridges ;  all  presenting  an  air  of  attractiveness 
which  fills  the  beholder  with  ecstasy  and  delight. 
Yet  what  do  you  think  of  the  report  of  the  Provost 
of  Inverness  made  to  the  Home  Secretary  from  the 
Poor  Law  Commissioners  "On  an  enquiry  into  the 


52       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

sanitary  condition  of  the  labouring  population  of 
Great  Britain,  July,  1842  ?  *  The  worthy  Provost 
says: — "Inverness  is  a  nice  town,  situated  in  a 
most  beautiful  country  and  with  every  facility  for 
cleanliness  and  comfort.  The  people  are,  gener- 
ally speaking,  a  nice  people,  but  their  sufferance 
of  nastiness  is  past  endurance.  Contagious  fever 
is  seldom,  if  ever,  absent ;  but  for  many  years  it 
has  seldom  been  rife  in  its  pestiferous  influence. 
The  people  owe  this  more  to  the  kindness  of 
Almighty  God  than  to  any  means  taken  for  its 
prevention."  .  .  .  He  adds,  "When  cholera  pre- 
vailed in  Inverness,  it  was  more  fatal  than  in  almost 
any  other  town  of  similar  population  in  Britain. " 
The  mode  of  living  among  the  poorer  classes  is 
of  the  commonest  description,  indeed  often  border- 
ing on  starvation.  Their  chief  fare  is  oatmeal 
porridge,  or  salt  herrings  and  potatoes,  while  in 
many  of  the  outer  isles  a  meal  has  often  to  be  made 
on  a  few  cockles  gathered  on  the  sands  or  some 
limpets  picked  off  the  rocks.  During  the  most 
prosperous  year,  the  poor  crofter  lives  but  a  "hand 
to  mouth"  existence  ;  and  when  a  bad  season  turns 


*  We  need  hardly  add  that  the  sanitary  condition  of 
Inverness  has  greatly  improved  since  1842. 


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Domestic  Life.  53 

up,  or  the  fishing  proves  a  failure,  starvation  stares 
him  in  the  face — hence  the  famine  which  occurred 
during  the  years  184G-47  when  the  potato  blight 
visited  the  country,  and  plunged  the  poorer  people 
into  the  severest  distress.     Their  chronic  state  of 
almost   entire   poverty,   together  with  the   potato 
failure,  landed  them  in  a  state  of  extreme  wretched- 
ness.    Ireland  was  suffering  in  a  similar  manner ; 
yet  notwithstanding  the  heavy  drain  made  on  public 
generosity,  in  the  case  of  Ireland,  a  ''Destitution 
Fund"    was    raised   by    voluntary  subscription  in 
Scotland,  England,  and  the  Colonies,  to  relieve,  if 
not  to  check,  the  prevailing  distress  in  the  High- 
lands.    Sir  John  MacNeill,  who,   at  the  time  of 
the  potato  failure,  was  chairman  of  the  Poor  Law 
Board  of  Scotland,  in  speaking  of  the  demoralising 
effects  of  eleemosynary  aid,  said: — "The  inhabi- 
tants of  Lewis  appear  to  have  no  feeling  of  thank- 
fulness for  the  aid  extended  to  them,  but  on  the 
contrary  regard  the  exaction  of  labour  in  return 
for  wages  as  oppression.     Yet  many  of  these  very 
men,  on  a  coast  singularly  destitute  of  safe  creeks, 
prosecute  the  winter   cod-and-ling-fishing   in   open 
row  boats,  at  a  distance  from  the  land  that  renders 
it  invisible,  unless  in  clear  weather,  and  in  a  sea 
open  to  the  Atlantic  and  Northern  Oceans,  with  no 

^     OF  THE  ^ 

UNIVERSITY 


54       The  Highla,7ids  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

land  beyond  it  nearer  than  Iceland  or  America. 
They  cheerfully  encounter  the  perils  and  hardships 
of  such  a  life,  and  tug  for  hours  at  an  oar,  or  sit 
drenched  in  their  boat  without  complaint ;  but  to 
labour  with  a  pick  or  a  spade  to  them  is  most 
distasteful. " 

Highlanders  are  a  very  sociable  race,  and  per- 
haps nothing  is  more  enjoyed,  by  old  and  young, 
than  a  M  Ceilidh, M  when,  sitting  around  the  glowing 
turf  fire,  they  repeat  story  upon  story,  each  more 
wonderful  than  the  other,  about  giants  and  witches 
and  fairies  and  midnight  adventures,  that  make 
the  very  hairs  of  the  head  stand  on  end.  These 
tales  are  sometimes  varied  by  songs ;  and  often  does 
Donald  blow  his  chanter  and  make  his  bagpipes 
skirl ;  and  all  join  in  a  hearty  country  dance  or  in 
the  good  old-fashioned  "Reel  of  Tulloch, "  and 
thus  the  long  winter  nights  are  passed  by  those 
humble  people  in  innocent  simplicity.  Can  we 
wonder  at  them  thus  trying  to  wile  away  the  long 
dreary  weary  time  in  that  desolate  country  and 
damp  moorland  atmosphere,  where  they  are  com- 
pelled to  pass  an  existence  in  poverty,  hardship, 
and  isolated  imprisonment? 

The  characteristic  Highland  weddings  and 
funerals,  with  their  peculiar  customs,  are  fast  be- 


Domestic  Life.  55 

coming  extinct,  and  of  one  thing  I  am  glad,  that 
considerable  reformation  has  taken  place  in  the 
matter  of  Highland  funerals ;  and,  although  as 
yet,  as  a  rule,  no  religious  ceremony  is  conducted 
at  a  burial  further  than,  perhaps,  the  offering  up  of 
a  prayer  by  the  minister,  still  many  of  the  scenes 
of  revelry  and  apparent  levity,  in  olden  times,  have 
been  abolished.  Refreshments  are  still  dispensed  ; 
and  the  practice — unless  abused — is  commendable, 
as  many  of  the  mourners  come  from  remote  places, 
and  perform  long  and  weary  journeys  to  attend 
the  funeral. 

Lord  Teignmouth,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  the  Coasts 
and  Islands  of  Scotland,"  thus  relates  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  funeral  of  a  distinguished  officer,  as 
conveyed  to  him  by  an  enthusiastic  Highlander :  — 
"  Oh,  sir,  it  was  a  grand  entertainment,  there  were 
five  thousand  Highlanders  present ;  we  were  so 
jolly!"  continued  the  guileless  native,  "  some  did 
not  quit  the  spot  till  next  morning,  some  not  till 
the  following  day,  they  lay  drinking  on  the 
ground ;  it  was  like  a  field  of  battle. " 

To  those  acquainted  with  the  Highland  character, 
the  foregoing  may  appear  uncivilized  and  barbarous 
conduct ;  nor  will  I  attempt  to  justify  it.  Yet  for 
all  this  it  cannot  be  attributed  to  their  levity,  as 


56       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

Highlanders  regard  death.  with  becoming 
solemnity ;  neither  is  it  want  of  attachment  to  the 
memory  of  the  deceased.  It  is  but  the  perpetuation 
of  a  remnant  of  a  rude  custom  of  showing  respect 
to  the  dead  and  hospitality  to  the  mourners.  In 
our  day,  at  festive  seasons,  the  customs  of  "drink- 
ing the  health"  of  friends  is  still  indulged  in  ;  and, 
undoubtedly,  in  those  "good  old  times,"  long  ago, 
the  same  method  was  employed  in  paying  respecta 
to  the  memory  of  the  dead. 


Emigration.  57' 


EMIGRATION. 

"  From  the  lone  sheiling  on  the  misty  island, 
Mountains  divide  us,  and  a  waste  of  seas, 
But  still  the  blood  is  strong,  the  heart  is  Highland, 
And  we  in  dreams  behold  the  Hebrides." 


i  HE  emigration  question  is  one  which,  requires 
very  careful  consideration  before  any  definite 


conclusion  is  arrived  at,  for  it  is  nothing  less 
than  a  great  national  problem,  a  problem 
which,  up  till  now,  has  had  no  satisfactory  solution. 
That  our  surplus  population  must  be  got  rid  of 
is  an  undisputed  fact,  but  whether  it  is  the  wisest 
course  to  drain  off  the  congested  districts  by 
emigration  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  I,  however,, 
think  that  voluntary  emigration,  whether  of  com- 
munities or  individuals,  should  be  encouraged,  so 
long  as  it  can  be  satisfactorily  shown  that  those 
persons  are  qualified  and  adapted  to  undergo  the 
life  of  an  emigrant ;  but  wholesale  compulsory 
emigration  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned,  as 
a  system  rotten  at  its  very  core,  for  while  it  hurls 
whole  towrnships  higgledy-piggledy  into  a  howling 


58       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

wilderness  in  a  foreign  land,  it  also  forms  a  cloak 
to  screen  many  cruel  evictions  that  have  occurred 
throughout  the  Highlands.  But,  as  I  have  said, 
we  must  somehow  dispose  of  our  over  population ; 
and  still  I  question  very  much  if  it  is  a  judicious 
policy  to  drive  from  their  native  land  a  race  of 
people  who,  in  bygone  years,  formed  the  stamina 
send  backbone  of  the  nation.* 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hast'ning  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay, 
Princes  and  Lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade ; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made  ; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied." 

— Goldsmith. 

True  it  may  be  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  for 
so  large  a  population  as  now  occupy  the  barren  and 
swampy  wastes  of  many  of  the  Western  Isles  to 
even  eke  out  a  miserable  existence ;  yet  were  the 
Government   aid  which  was  offered  to  emigrants 

*  The  Island  of  Skye  alone  has  sent  forth  since  the 
beginning  of  the  last  wars  of  the  French  Revolution,  21 
lieutenant-generals  and  major-generals,  48  colonels,  600 
commissioned  officers,  10,000  soldiers,  4  governors  of  colonies, 
1  governor-general,  1  chief  baron  of  England,  and  1  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Scotland. — Dr.  Norman  MacLeod. 


Emigration,  59 

given  to  them,  with  the  power  to  migrate  and  settle 
on  some  of  the  rich  fertile  lands  scattered  through- 
out the  many  beautiful  straths  and  glens  of  bonnie 
Scotland,  we  should  not  only  be  retaining  the 
people  and  their  capital  in  our  midst,  but  also 
enriching  the  land,  and,  above  all,  feeling  that  we 
were  not  expatriating  a  people  whose  love  for  their 
native  land  is  such  that,  when  the  heather-clad 
mountains  sank  from  their  view,  their  hearts  would 
sink,  and  their  arms  would  shrink  like  ferns  in  the 
winter's  frost ;  and  when  they  reached  that  far 
western  land,  with  no  heart  or  energy  to  face  the 
rough  battle  of  life,  they  would  say — 

"  The  Highlands  !  the  Highlands  !  O  gin  I  were  there, 
Tho'  the  mountains  an'  moorlands  be  rugged  and  bare." 

"  In  these  grim  wastes  new  homes  we'll  rear, 
New  scenes  shall  wear  old  names  so  dear  ; 
And  while  our  axes  fell  the  tree, 
Resound  old  Scotia's  minstrelsy  : 
Stand  fast,  stand  fast,  Craig  Elachie  !  " 

— Mrs.  D.  Ogilvt. 

After  the  Anglo-Boer  War  the  Land  Settlement 
Departments  of  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  River 
Colony  made  several  attempts  to  settle  Government 


60       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

lands,  but  after  enormous  sums  of  money  had  been 
expended  on  the  scheme,  the  results  have  been  any- 
thing but  satisfactory.  Had  one  half  of  this  money 
been  expended  in  erecting  houses  and  supplying 
stock  and  implements  for  re-peopling  the  fertile 
straths  and  glens  of  Scotland,  the  result  would  not 
only  be  remunerative,  but  a  more  happy  and  con- 
tented community  would  be  the  result.  The 
Imperial  Government  would  act  wisely  if  they 
devoted  a  large  sum  of  money  for  this  object. 

Between  the  years  1773-1775.  30,000  persons 
from  various  parts  of  the  Highlands  crossed  the 
Atlantic,  but  it  was  not  until  about  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  that  the  tide  of  emigration 
reached  its  full  height,  when  the  crofters  were  swept 
away  to  make  room  for  the  wealthy  sheep  farmers 
from  the  southern  dales  who  invaded  the  High- 
lands, and  offered  an  enormous  increase  for  the 
summer  "  shielings"  of  the  poor  crofters.  The  late 
Dr.  Carruthers,  of  Inverness,  quotes  an  instance  in 
which  a  sheep  farmer  from  the  south  offered  no 
less  a  rent  than  £350  for  a  cattle  grazing  belonging 
to  the  men  of  Kintail  who  only  paid  an  annual  rent 
of  £15  for  it.  To  impecunious  lairds  such  tempta- 
tions were  beyond  their  power  to  resist. 

''Then  it  was  that  the  more  active  and  enter- 


Emigration.  61 

prising  of  the  people  had  emigrated ;  and  the  few 
that  remained  squatted  down  in  lethargic  content- 
ment, so  long  as  their  miserable  patches  of  half 
cultivated  lands  yielded  them  a  few  potatoes  and 
sufficient  corn  for  some  meal,  with  an  occasional 
shoal  of  herrings  throwing  themselves  within  the 
weirs  of  the  lochs ;  and  thus  the  people  struggled 
on  in  that  lethargic  manner,  never  endeavouring  to 
elevate  or  improve  themselves  above  the  customs 
and  manners  of  their  forefathers.  They  married 
and  multiplied ;  the  crofts  were  sub-divided,  and 
additional  huts  thrown  up  to  accommodate  an  ever- 
increasing  population,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
moderately  steady  drain  of  emigration  and  military 
employment,  still  went  on  growing  till  the  town- 
ships failed  to  support  a  population  now  double 
that  of  its  original  settlers.  No  opportunity  was 
given  for  spreading  out  from  their  confined  area ; 
and  as  they  depended  wholly  on  potatoes  as  their 
staple  food,  which  now  failed  them,  in  1846,  when 
the  destitution  crisis  began,  and  became  so  un- 
equalled for  intensity,  and  which  involved  both 
chief  and  clan,  landlord  and  tenant,  in  irretrievable 
embarrassment  and  ruin.'1  And  though  the  im- 
mediate distress  was  mitigated  by  the  generosity  of 
ihe  British  public,  its  effects  are  still  more  or  less 


62       The  HigJilands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

chronic ;  and  ever  and  anon  the  sad  case  of  human 
destitution  and  starvation  occurs,  and  will  continue 
to  do  so,  until  permanent  remedial  measures  are 
introduced  that  will  for  ever  place  it  beyond  the 
possibility  of  recurring. 

The  natural  aversion  Highlanders  have  to 
emigrate  further  suggests  that  some  improvement 
of  their  condition  at  home  should  be  first  attempted 
before  the  adoption  of  the  extreme  measure — 
emigration ;  for  when  the  late  Sir  James  Matheson 
of  Lewis  offered  to  cancel  all  arrears  of  rent,  forgive 
all  debts,  purchase  the  stock,  and  provide  a  free 
passage  to  Canada,  to  any  of  his  tenants  willing  to 
emigrate,  his  generous  offer  was  only  accepted  by 
a  few.  As  I  have  already  observed,  men  who 
emigrate  and  have  their  whole  soul  concentrated  on 
"the  old  country,"  cannot  be  expected  to  labour 
with  that  energy  which  is  necessary  to  cope  with 
the  difficulties  of  a  new  country,  and  to  make  them 
successful  in  proportion  to  the  troubles  they  have 
undergone. 

Dr.  Norman  Macleod  illustrates  this  in  that 
graphic  and  pathetic  style  so  peculiar  to  him. 
"To  Highlanders,"  he  says,  "emigration  has  often 
been  a  very  passion — their  only  refuge  from 
starvation.       Their    love    of    country    has    been 


Emigration.  63 

counteracted  on  the  one  band  by  the  lash,  of  famine, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  attraction  of  a  better  land 
opening  up  its  arms  to  receive  them  with  the  pro- 
mise of  abundance  to  reward  their  toil.  They  have 
chosen,  then,  to  emigrate ;  but  what  agonising 
scenes  have  been  witnessed  on  their  leaving  their 
native  land  ?  The  women  have  cast  themselves  on 
the  ground,  kissing  it  with  intense  fervour.  The 
men,  though  not  manifesting  their  attachment  by 
such  violent  demonstrations  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  have  done  so  in  a  still  more  impressive 
form  in  the  colonies — whether  wisely  or  not  is 
another  question — by  retaining  their  native 
language  and  cherishing  feelings  of  the  warmest 
affection  for  the  country  which  they  still  call 
'Home/" 

In  his  "Reminiscences  of  a  Highland  Parish, "' 
Dr.  Macleod,  in  describing  the  departure  of  some 
emigrants,  says: — "Among  the  emigrants  from 
'  the  parish '  many  years  ago  was  the  piper  of  an 
old  family  which  was  broken  up  by  the  death  of 
the  last  laird.  Poor  i  Duncan  Piper '  had  to  ex- 
patriate himself  from  the  house  which  had  sheltered 
him  and  his  ancestors.  The  evening  before  he 
sailed  he  visited  the  tomb  of  his  old  master,  and, 
playing  the  family  pibroch  while  he  slowly  and 


64       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

solemnly  paced  round  the  grave,  his  wild  and  wail- 
ing notes  strangely  disturbed  the  silence  of  the 
lonely  spot  where  his  chief  lay  interred.  Having 
done  so,  he  broke  his  pipes,  and  laying  them  on 
the  green  sod,  departed  tc  return  no  more. ' 


Agriculture.  65 


INDUSTRIES. 


AGRICULTURE. 

HE  Highlands  of  Scotland,    being    a    purely 
agricultural    and    pastoral    country,  and  its 
prosperity    closely    linked    with,    those    in- 
dustries, we  should  naturally  expect  that  the 
development  of  agricultural  and  grazing  pursuits 
would  be  the  chief  aim  of  its  inhabitants,  and  that 
numerous   experimental    farms    and    agricultural 
colleges  should  be  scattered  all  over  the  country ; 
but  it  is  not  so.     The  Highland  and  Agricultural 
Society,   established  over  one  hundred  years  ago, 
undoubtedly  has  done  much  good,    and    to    some 
extent    stimulated   farmers'  to    practise    improved 
methods  of  husbandry ;  but  the  local  associations, 
or  farmers'  societies,  have  done    little   more    than 
create  a  wholesome  rivalry  among  the  few  cattle 

breeders,  and  it  is  only  in  some  localities  here  and 

E 


66       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

there  that  experimental  work  has  been  carried  on 
with  anything  like  scientific  precision.* 

When  comparing  the  present  condition  of  agri- 
culture with  what  it  represented  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  last  century,  notwithstanding  the 
inferior  nature  of  the  soil  and  the  ungenial  climate,, 
many  Highland  farmers,  by  their  shrewdness  and 
resolute  determination,  although  labouring  under 
so  many  difficulties,  have  distinguished  themselves 
more  than  any  other  class  of  farmers  perhaps  any- 
where, and  the  great  progress  which  agriculture  has 
made  in  the  north-eastern  parts  of  Scotland  during 
the  last  hundred  years  testifies  to  the  high  position 
which  these  Highlanders  now  occupy  as  agricul- 
turists. In  the  poorer  localities,  particularly 
among  the  crofting  class,  especially  in  the  outer 
Hebrides,  little  advance  has  been  made  during  the 
past  one  hundred  years.  At  the  commencement  of 
this  century,  agricultural  prices  were  exceedingly 
high.  In  1812  wheat  fetched  126s.  6d.  per  quarter, 
but  gradually  it  fell  until  in  1822  it  declined  to 


*  In  this  respect  the  Welsh  are  far  in  advance  of  us,  for 
in  the  year  1898  a  fully  equipped  experimental  farm  was 
established  in  connection  with  the  North  Wales  University 
College,  Bangor,  which  had  only  been  in  existence  16  years. 


Agriculture.  67 

44s.  7d.  per  quarter,  while  in  1844  wheat  sold  at 
26s.  per  quarter.  Notwithstanding  these  fluctua- 
tions, we  find  that  the  rentals  of  Inverness  and 
Ross-shires  stood  as  follows:  — 

Rentals,       1815.  1873.  1887. 

County  of  Inverness,  £185,565  £417,951  £420,892 
Ross  and  Cromarty,      121,557      298,325      310,450 

Showing  an  increase  in  the  72  years  of  £235,327 
on  the  rental  of  Inverness-shire,  and  for  the  com- 
bined counties  of  Ross  and  Cromarty  £188,893  ; 
from  these  figures — after  making  a  liberal  de- 
duction for  increase  in  Burghs  and  valuation  of 
Railways — we  must  infer  that  farmers,  seventy 
years  ago,  must  have  had  a  good  time,  or  that 
to-day  the  tillers  of  the  soil  must  be  labouring  for 
nought. 

Agriculture  during  the  present  century  has  had 
a  series  of  revivals  and  of  corresponding  depres- 
sions. The  most  notable  depression  began  about 
the  year  1879,  when  a  series  of  bad  seasons  came 
in  succession,  till  affairs  became  so  desperate  in 
1879  that  a  Royal  Commission  of  enquiry  was 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  prevailing  agricul- 
tural distress ;  and  the  Commissioners'  report, 
which  was  issued  in  1882,  pointed  out  that  two  of 


68       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

the  most  prevalent  causes  of  distress  were,  bad 
seasons  and  foreign  competition,  aggravated  by 
increased  cost  of  production  and  heavy  loss  of  live 
stock  from  disease. 

On  the  strength  of  the  Commissioners'  report  Mr. 
Gladstone's  Government,  in  1883,  passed  the 
Agricultural  Holdings'  Act,  a  measure  tending  in 
the  right  direction,  yet  conferring  on  the  tenant 
but  few  of  the  privileges  which  he  contends  he  is 
entitled  to.  Of  the  other  legislative  measures 
passed  during  last  century  I  need  hardly  mention 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  the  Abolition  of 
Hypothec,  the  Ground  Game  Act,  the  Abolition  of 
the  Malt  Tax,*  and  the  Cattle  Diseases  Act  of  1884, 
all  measures  having  a  tendency  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  tenant  farmer. 

About  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  agricultural 
prices  stood  at  a  remunerative  figure,  and  the 
demand  for  farms  far  exceeded  the  supply,  result- 
ing in  fabulous  prices  being  given  for  land ;   and 


*  Some  contend  that  the  Abolition  of  the  Malt  Tax  has 
been  injurious  to  the  farmer,  by  removing  what  used  to  be  a 
practical  bounty  on  British  barley.  But  if  this  was  its 
effect,  the  intention  of  it  was  undoubtedly  good,  and  the 
effect  was  unforeseen  by  the  promoters  of  the  Act. 


Agriculture.  69 

at  the  same  period  landlords  were  seized  with  a 
mania  for  creating  large  farms,  and  consequently 
hundreds  of  the  small  tenants  were  evicted,  and 
sometimes  as  many  as  a  dozen  holdings  were  rolled 
into  one  vast  farm.  Men  of  capital  readily  took 
up  every  farm  in  the  market,  many  of  them  on  long 
leases ;  but  a  series  of  bad  seasons  landed  most  of 
these  large  farmers  in  bankruptcy.  Some  managed 
with  difficulty  to  carry  out  their  agreement,  but  on 
the  expiry  of  their  lease  they  quitted  as  ruined  men, 
while  others  failed  to  complete  any  more  than  half 
the  terms  of  their  contracts. 

Big  farms  have  therefore  proved  a  failure,  and 
several  causes  can  be  assigned  for  this.  The  chief 
cause  may,  however,  be  attributed  to  cost  of  pro- 
duction together  with  low  prices ;  because  the  big 
farmer  when  not  near  a  town  must  employ  a  large 
permanent  staff,  whereas  in  the  days  when  he  was 
surrounded  by  small  tenants  and  crofters  he  could 
secure  labour  just  as  he  required  it. 

The  landlords  also  made  a  fatal  mistake  when 
they  converted  the  small  and  middle  class  farms 
into  extensive  holdings.  No  doubt  they  considered 
it  more  economical,  as  one  set  of  offices  would  serve 
where  perhaps  five  or  six  steadings  would  be  re- 
quired were  the  various  farms    to    be    re-let,  the 


70       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

buildings  of  nearly  all  the  smaller  farms  being  in 
a  most  dilapidated  condition  at  that  period.  How 
far  their  economical  policy  has  benefitted  them  they 
themselves  know;  but  now  they  are  compelled  to 
sub-divide  those  farms  (is  well  as  to  erect  premises 
and  offices  ;  and  thus  it  appears  to  have  been  simply 
a  case  of  putting  off  the  evil  day  for  a  short  period, 
and  during  that  period  the  evil  was  accumulating. 
Had  the  small  farmers  been  left  in  their  holdings 
they  would  in  all  probability  have  weathered 
through  the  storm  of  depression. 


Cattle  Breeding.  71 


CATTLE  BREEDING. 

ITH  the  exception  of  a  few  well-known 
herds,  particularly  in  Ross-shire,  high 
class  breeding  of  cattle  does  not  receive 
the  amount  of  attention  in  the  Highlands 
which  the  beef  producing  counties  of  Aberdeen, 
Banff,  Forfar,  etc.,  devote  to  this  branch.  Indeed, 
in  these  days,  what  with  foreign  competition  and 
low  prices,  it  does  not  pay  the  trouble  and  risk 
involved  in  rearing  fat  stock. 

The  West  Highland  ox,  with  his  shaggy  coat  and 
picturesque  appearance,  is  the  breed  most  profit- 
able and  best  adapted  to  the  Highland  counties. 
In  1884  Argyllshire  alone  had  660,500  head  of 
best  Highland  cattle. 

Sheep  farming  is  an  equally  if  not  more 
important  industry  than  arable  farming.  In  1884 
it  was  estimated  that  in  the  Highlands  there  were 
€,983,293  sheep,  of  ^hich  2,393,826  were  lambs. 


72       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

The  once  remunerative  business  of  sheep  farming 
induced  landlords  to  convert  whole  tracts  of  terri- 
tory, then  under  cultivation,  into  extensive  sheep 
runs ;  and  sheep  farmers  are  therefore  looked  upon 
by  the  crofters  of  Scotland  as  the  primary  movers 
or  originators  of  evictions. 

Sheep  farming,  as  well  as  the  kindred  branch  of 
agriculture,  has  suffered  in  the  general  depression 
aggravated  by  the  large  importations  of  foreign 
mutton  and  wool.  The  estimated  quantity  of  wool 
grown  in  Scotland  in  1884  was  about  34,500,000 
lbs.,  and  the  estimated  weight  of  wool  imported 
from  Australasia  in  the  same  year  was 
400,000,000  lbs.* 

Again,  the  fabulous  prices  offered  for  sporting 
estates  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  sheep  farms  and 
the  converting  of  them  into  deer  forests,  so  that 
to-day  there  are  about  2\  millions  of  acres  occupied 
as  deer  forests  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 

Before  leaving  the  question  of  sheep  I  must 
allude  to  the  great  "  Wool  Fair"  held  at  Inverness 
in  July  of  each  year.  There  are  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  sheep  sold  annually  at  this  market,  and 
yet  not  a  head  is  exhibited.       "This  market  is 

*   Vide  Ordnance  Gazetteer. 


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Cattle  Breeding,  73 

peculiar,"  says  a  well-known  writer,  "in  so  far  as 
no  stock  whatever  is  shown,  the  buyer  depending 
entirely  upon  the  integrity  of  the  seller  together 
with  the  character  the  stock  is  known  to  possess.  v 
44  It  is  a  great  source  of  pride  to  the  farmers  in  this, 
part  of  Scotland  to  be  able,  as  they  are,  to  say  that 
no  question  involving  legal  proceedings  has  ever 
yet  arisen  out  of  a  misrepresentation  of  stock  sold 
at  this  market,  which  has  been  in  existence  sines 
the  commencement  almost  of  last  century. v 

Dairy  farming  is  not  carried  on  scientifically,  nor 
to  any  great  extent  beyond  the  requirements  of 
local  consumption,  and  only  in  a  very  few  localities 
is  cheese  manufactured  beyond  what  is  required 
for  home  use.  There  is  wide  scope  for  developing 
this  industry,  for  in  many  of  the  English  counties 
the  farmers  are  solely  dependent  on  the  manu- 
facture of  cheese  as  the  means  of  paying  their 
rents.  * 

On  the  rich  alluvial  lands  skirting  the  shores  of 
the    Cromarty    and    Moray    Firths,    and    indeed 

*  Co-Operative  Dairies,  with  Central  Creameries,  have 
been  established  in  Ireland,  and  prove  most  remunerative 
investments.  There  is  a  wide  field  in  the  Highlands  for  the 
establishment  of  similar  manufactories. 


74       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

throughout  the  Highlands  generally,  where  farm-; 
attain  an  area  of  any  considerable  extent,  cultiva- 
tion is  carried  out  on  the  most  improved  principles  ; 
and  large  sums  of  money  have  been  expended  on 
draining,  trenching,  and  squaring  lands.  The 
modern  improvements  in  agricultural  machinery 
have  materially  assisted  the  farmer  in  bringing  the 
soil  to  the  present  high  condition  in  which  we  find 
the  arable  lands  in  those  districts  referred  to. 

M  No  account  of  the  agriculture  of  Scotland/ 
says  the  late  sub-editor  of  the  M  North  British 
Agriculturist" — Mr.  James  Landells — "would  be 
complete  without  some  reference  to  the  peculiar 
condition  of  the  smaller  tenants  of  the  Highlands 
and  Islands.  The  system  of  agriculture  pursued 
by  the  crofters,  or  the  smaller  tenants,  is  of  the 
most  wretched  description. " 

The  chronic  state  of  poverty  associated  with  the 
crofting  class  is  alluded  to  in  an  earlier  chapter. 
The  land  agitation,  which  had  been  smouldering 
over  the  Highlands  during  the  past  fifteen  year3, 
at  length  broke  out  in  the  wild  and  distant  town- 
ship of  Yaltos  in  Skye,  and  from  there  it  spread 
rapidly  all  over  the  Highlands  and  Islands. 

It  was  not  till  1882  that  the  agitation  reached 
its  climax,  when  the  ''Battle  of  the  Braes,"  near 


Cattle  Breeding.  75 

Portree,  began,  where  a  force  of  seventy  policemen 
arrested  a  number  of  crofters  accused  of  bavin g 
deforced  a  Sheriff  Officer ;  they  were,  however,  all 
acquitted,  except  two,  who  were  fined.  In  the 
autumn  of  same  year  another  campaign  was  com- 
menced at  Braes,  and  similar  riots  broke  out  in 
Glendale ;  and  the  turbulent  spirit  was  spreading 
all  over  Skye,  until  it  was  found  necessary  to 
despatch  H.M.  gunboat  "Jackal"  with  a  special 
Government  Commission  on  board  to  remonstrate 
with  the  inhabitants.  The  agitation  had  by  now 
raised  such  a  feeling  in  the  country,  and  so 
attracted  even  the  attention  of  Parliament,  that  in 
1883  the  Government  appointed  a  Royal  Commis- 
sion to  enquire  into  the  condition  of  the  crofters 
and  cottars  of  the  Highlands  and  Islands  of  Scot- 
land. The  Commission,  with  Lord  Napier  as 
chairman,  found  "  that  the  crofter  population 
suffered  from  undue  contraction  of  the  area  of  hold- 
ings, insecurity  of  tenure,  want  of  compensation 
for  improvements,  high  rents,  defective  communi- 
cations, and  withdrawal  of  the  soil  in  connection 
with  the  purposes  of  sport.'  "Defects  in  educa- 
tion and  in  the  machinery  of  justice,  and  want  of 
facilities  for  emigration,  also  contributed  to  depress 
the    condition    of    the    people,    while   the   fishing 


76       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

population,  who  were  identified  with  the  farming 
class,  were  in  want  of  harbours,  piers,  boats,  and 
tackle  for  deep-sea  fishing,  and  access  to  the  great 
markets  of  consumption. '  The  Highland  Land 
League  was  now  organised ;  and  at  Martinmas, 
1884,  a  "  no-rent M  manifesto  was  issued  ;  and  many- 
tenants  absolutely  refused  to  pay  any  rent  until  the 
land  was  fairly  divided  among  them.  Raids  were 
made  on  deer  forests,  march  fences  were  demolished, 
and  lands  were  forcibly  taken  possession  of,  until 
the  whole  of  Skye  and  the  Long  Island  were  in  a 
complete  state  of  chaotic  anarchy.  Attempts  were 
made  to  serve  summonses  of  removal,  but  the 
officers  were  mobbed  and  deforced.  In  November, 
1884,  it  became  necessary  to  send  a  military  expedi- 
tion to  Skye  with  four  gun  boats  and  five  hundred 
marines.  This  formidable  force  restored  order, 
and  the  crofters  accused  of  acts  of  deforcement 
submitted  to  be  quietly  apprehended. 

In  face  of  the  recommendations  contained  in  the 
report  of  the  Royal  Commission  accentuated  by 
those  riots  in  the  Hebrides,  Parliament  in  1886 
passed  the  Crofters'  Holdings  (Scotland)  Act, 
whereby  three  Commissioners  were  appointed  to  fix 
44 fair  rents"  and  deal  with  the  question  of  arrears, 
and  at  the  end  of  year  1887  the  Commissioners  had 


Cattle  Breeding.  77 

examined  1767  holdings,  and  for  year  ending  31st 
December,  1888,  they  examined  and  awarded 
decisions  on  2185  holdings,  being  a  total  of  3952 
cases  dealt  with  from  the  opening  of  the  enquiry, 
having  7621  applications  to  be  still  dealt  with  as 
at  31st  December,  1888. 

I  append  a  table  showing  number  of  holdings 
for  which  "  fair  rents  "  have  been  fixed,  and  amount 
of  arrears  cancelled. 

No.  of  Present  Fair  Arrears 

Year  ending       Holdings.         Rent.  Rent.  Cancelled. 

31st  Dec,  1887.  1767        £12,457  10    0       £8,617    6    0        £14,418    5    \\ 

31st  Dec,  1888.  2185        £11,882  18    8J      £8,380    111        £13,897    4    h\ 


Totals,         3952       £24,340    8    8J      £16,997    7  11        £28,315    9    7 

£16,997    7  11 
Permanent  Reduction  of 

Annual  Rent,  £7,343    0    ty* 

This  gives  an  average  reduction  of  rent  of  30.15 
per  cent,  on  the  total  number  of  cases  examined, 
and  an  average  of  64.82  per  cent,  of  cancelled 
arrears.  These  judicial  decisions  prove  that  the 
crofters  had  just  cause  for  complaint ;  and  although 
T  shall  not  attempt  to  justify  the  means  which  they 

*  The  total  permanent  reductions  in  rent  for  the  nine 
years  1886-87  to  1895-96  =  £21,387  16s.— and  the  amount  of 
arrears  cancelled  in  same  period  =  £123,469  2s.  lOd. —  Vide 
Parliamentary  Eeturn,  6th  April,  1897. 


78       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

adopted  for  the  purpose  of  getting  remedial  legis- 
lation, still  I  will  venture  to  say  that  our  legislators 
are  pursuing  a  false  policy  in  allowing  bad  laws  to 
goad  the  people  to  the  verge  of  rebellion  before  they . 
introduce  measures  of  reform ;  for  this  gives  an 
excitable  race  the  idea  that  nothing  for  their  bene- 
fit can  be  obtained  without  becoming  turbulent  and 
riotous. 

I  have  already  shown  that  in  many  parts  of  the 
Highlands  agriculture  made  rapid  strides  during 
the  last  century ;  yet  in  the  Hebrides,  and, 
indeed,  among  nearly  the  whole  crofter  community, 
little  if  any  progress  has  been  made.  In  the  first 
report  issued  by  the  Crofters'  Commission  we  find 
the  following  paragraphs: — "The  land,  both  in 
Skye  and  in  all  the  other  islands  visited,  is  sub- 
jected to  a  process  of  continuous  cropping  which  i» 
disastrous.  There  is  no  particular  shift  or  rota- 
tion adopted,  the  land  being  continuously  cropped 
as  long  as  it  will  grow  anything.  The  consequent 
waste  and  deterioration  of  the  land,  especially  the 
weaker  kinds,  is  enormous.  This  observation,  how- 
ever, is  not  true  to  the  same  extent  of  Skye  as  of 
South  and  North  Uist,  the  soil  in  Skye  being 
generally  of  a  stronger  nature. " 

44  It  may  be  added  that  in  Skye  as  in  some  other 


Cattle  Breeding,  79< 

places  we  found  great  room  for  improvement  in 
the  matter  of  leading  drains.  It  frequently  hap- 
pened that  a  crofter  suffered  from  his  neighbour 
failing  to  make  and  keep  these  in  a  state  of  effi- 
ciency. It  also  frequently  occurred  that  a  crofter 
waited  for  years  on  his  landlord  getting  such  drains 
scoured  out  in  reliance  on  some  real  or  supposed 
obligation  to  do  so,  instead  of  putting  them  in 
working  order  himself  and  thereby  greatly 
improving  his  croft. " 

The  Duke  of  Argyll,  in  a  very  learned  article  in 
the  ''Nineteenth  Century"  of  January,  1889,  on 
"Isolation,"  after  deploring  the  alarming  increase 
of  the  population  on  the  barren  shores  of  the  wild 
Hebrides,  says: — "But  there  was  another  cause 
that  affected  the  whole  of  Scotland,  where  the  rising 
tide  of  innovation  and  improvement  did  not  reach 
and  did  not  submerge  it.  This  cause  was  the  pro- 
found and  almost  unfathomable  ignorance  and 
barbarism  of  the  native  agriculture,  together  with 
a  traditional  system  of  occupation,  which,  as  it  were, 
enshrined  and  encased  every  ancestral  stupidity 
in  an  impenetrable  panoply  of  inveterate  customs. ' 
This  language  may  sound  harsh,  or  even  unjust. 
And  so  it  might  be,  if  such  language  were  not  used 
in  the  strictest  sense,  and  with  a  due  application  of 


>^    or  the; 
UNIVERSH 

Off 


80       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

the  lessons  to  ourselves.  We  are  all  stupid  in  our 
various  degrees,  and  each  generation  of  men  won- 
ders at  the  blindness  and  stupidity  of  those  who 
have  gone  before  them.  Man  only  opens  his  owlish 
eyes  by  gradual  winks  and  blinks  to  the  opportuni- 
ties of  nature  and  to  his  own  powers  in  relation  to 
them.  Let  us  just  think,  for  example,  of  the  case 
of  preserving  grass  in  "  silos, "  a  resource  only  dis- 
covered, or,  at  least,  recognised,  within  the  last 
few  years,  yet  a  resource  which  supplied  one 
essential  want  of  agriculture  in  wet  climates  at  no 
greater  cost  of  ingenuity  or  of  trouble  than  digging 
a  hole  in  the  ground,  covering  the  fresh  cut  and 
wet  material  with  sticks,  and  weighting  it  with 
stones." 

11  There  is,  however,  something  almost  mysterious 
in  the  helpless  ignorance  of  Scottish  rural  customs 
up  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  ...  In 
a  country  where  there  is  a  heavy  rainfall,  its 
inhabitants  never  thought  of  artificial  drainage. 
In  a  country  where  the  one  great  natural  product 
was  grass  of  exceptional  richness  and  comparatively 
long  endurance,  they  never  thought  of  saving  a 
morsel  of  it  in  the  form  of  hay.  In  a  country  where 
even  the  poorest  cereal  could  only  grow  by  careful 
attention  to  early  sowing,  they  never  sowed  till 


Cattle  Breeding.  81 

a  season  which  postponed  the  harvest  to  a 
wet  and  stormy  autumn.  In  a  country  where 
such  crops  required  every  nourishment  which  the 
soil  could  afford  to  sustain  them,  they  were  allowed 
to  be  choked  with  weeds,  so  that  the  weed  crop  was 
heavier  than  the  grain.  .  .  .  They  sow  corn  as 
if  they  were  feeding  hens,  and  plant  potatoes  as  if 
they  were  dibbling  beans.  They  think  the  more 
they  put  in  the  more  they  will  take  out.  In  short, 
we  have  here  a  survival  of  the  wretched  husbandry 
of  the  lowest  period  of  the  military  ages  staring  at 
us  in  the  fierce  light  of  our  own  scientific  and 
industrial  times. "  Without  a  doubt,  a  great  deal 
of  the  above  is  quite  true ;  but  then  we  know  that 
however  impartial  His  Grace  may  try  to  be,  yet  his 
judgment  must  be  more  or  less  biassed,  as  His  Grace 
has  anything  but  a  favourable  opinion  of  what  he 
calls  "the  worst  of  all  native  customs" — "crofter" 
townships. 

" The  whole  of  the  outer  Hebrides,"  continues 
His  Grace,  "are  mainly  composed  of  the  oldest,  the 
hardest,  the  most  obdurate  rock  existing  in  the 
world.  It  is  the  same  rock  which  occupies  a  great 
area  in  Canada,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  The  soil  which  gathers  on  it  is  gener- 
ally poor,  and  even  what  is  comparatively  good  is 


82       The  Higldands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

often  inaccessible.  In  its  hollows,  stagnant  waters 
have  slowly  given  growth,  to  a  vegetation  of 
mosses,  reeds,  and  stunted  willows.  Gradually 
these  have  formed  great  masses  and  sheets  of  peat. 
Only  along  the  margin  of  the  sea,  where  calcareous 
siliceous  sands  have  mixed  with  local  deposits  of 
clay,  are  there  any  areas  of  soil  which  even  skill 
and  industry  can  make  arable  with  success.  The 
whole  of  the  interior  of  the  island  is  one  vast  sheet 
of  black  and  dreary  bog.  ...  To  root  them  in 
that  soil  is  to  bury  them  in  a  bog — a  bog  physical,, 
a  bog  mental,  and  a  bog  moral. ,!  So  decides  His 
Grace  the  Duke  of  Argyll ;  and  yet  Mr.  Nimmo,  one 
of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Government 
to  enquire  into  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  bogs 
in  Ireland,  in  his  report,  issued  in  1813,  says:  "I 
am  perfectly  convinced,  from  all  that  I  have  seen, 
that  any  species  of  bog  is,  by  tillage  and  manure, 
capable  of  being  converted  into  a  soil  fit  for  the 
support  of  plants  of  every  description ;  and,  with 
due  management,  perhaps  the  most  fertile  that  can 
be  submitted  to  the  operations  of  the  farmer. 
Green  crops — such  as  rape,  cabbages,  and  turnips — 
may  be  raised  with  the  greatest  success  on  firm  bog, 
with  no  other  manure  than  the  ashes  of  the  same 
soil.     Permanent  pastures  may  be  formed  on  bog>. 


Cattle  Breeding.  83 

more  productive  than  on  any  other  soil.  Timber 
may  be  raised — especially  firs,  larch,  spruce,  and 
all  the  aquatics — on  the  deep  bog,  and  the  plant- 
ations are  fenced  at  little  expense ;  and  with  a  due 
application  of  manure,  every  description  of  white 
crops  may  be  raised  upon  bog. " 

The  expense  of  draining  and  improving  bog  land, 
as  estimated  bv  Mr.  Griffith,  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners'  engineers,  was  about  twenty-five  shillings 
per  acre,  and  he  reckoned  on  receiving  an  annual 
rent  of  thirty  shillings  per  acre,  on  a  lease  of 
twenty-one  years. 

Before  the  construction  of  the  Grand  Canal  from 
Dublin  to  the  River  Shannon,  a  portion  of  the  Bog 
of  Allen,  called  the  "Wet  Bog,'  was  originally 
valued  to  the  promoters  of  the  Canal  at  one  farthing 
per  acre.  It  now  lets  for  tillage  and  grazing  at 
from  thirty  shillings  to  forty  shillings  per  acre. 

I  may  be  pardoned  for  introducing  this 
extraneous  matter,  as  I  wish  to  show  the  beneficial 
effect  arterial  drainage  would  have  on  the  swampy 
lands  of  the  Highlands.  Stagnant  waters  produce 
one  kind  of  unprofitable  aquatic  plants  ;  vegetation 
is  affected  by  the  quantity  as  well  as  the  quality 
of  the  moisture  which  it  absorbs  for  its  sustenance  ; 
and  the  cold,  damp  exhalations  from  the  swampy 


84       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

hollows  have  a  most  injurious  effect  on  everything 
in  their  vicinity. 

The  draining  of  bog  land  in  Ireland  has  proved 
remunerative,  and  were  the  Government  to  do  for 
the  Highlands  and  Islands  of  Scotland  what  they 
have  on  several  occasions  done  for  Ireland  in  the 
way  of  drainage  grants,  and  a  complete  scheme  of 
arterial  drainage  carried  out  in  the  Highlands,  with 
a  judicious  planting  of  trees,  we  should  have  a  more 
fertile  soil,  a  healthier  and  finer  climate,  a  more 
contented  and  industrious  peasantry ;  and  while 
the  canals  served  as  the  means  of  carrying  off  the 
superabundant  waters,  they  could  at  the  same  time 
be  utilized  as  a  waterway  for  the  conveyance  of  the 
requirements  of  the  districts  they  penetrated,  or 
used  as  a  motive  power  for  mills,  which  might  be 
erected  along  their  banks. 

The  method  of  letting  farms  on  long  leases  was, 
during  prosperous  years,  considered  one  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing privileges  of  Scots  farms,  but  in  recent 
years  matters  have  entirely  reversed.  On  the  other 
hand,  yearly  tenancy  has  many  objections. 
The  uncertainty  of  tenure  tempts  the  farmer  to 
take  all  he  can  out  of  the  soil  while  he  has  the 
opportunity;  or  perhaps,  when  he  has  exhausted 
or  impoverished  the  soil,  he  quits  the  holding.     Of 


Cattle  Breeding,  85 

the  two  evils,  therefore,  it  is  difficult  to  decide 
which,  is  to  be  preferred.  The  most  satisfactory 
solution  of  the  problem  is  the  adoption  of  the  prin- 
ciple embodied  in  the  Crofters'  Holdings  Act — 
security  of  tenure  and  rent  fixed  by  a  Commission. 


86       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


FISHEEIES. 

«7|  NOTHEK  industry  in  the  Highlands  of  equal 
jf\^  importance  with  agriculture  is  the  sea 
t/ir  fisheries.  The  gross  value  of  the  sea  fisheries 
of  Scotland,  according  to  the  Fishery  Board 
returns  for  year  1887,  amounted  to  £1,915,602  10s., 
of  which  sum  £1,128,480  8s.  were  accredited  to  the 
herring  fishery.  Now,  as  the  herring  fishery  is 
chiefly  confined  to  the  Highland  waters,  it  can  be 
readily  seen  what  an  enormous  source  of  wealth 
this  harvest  of  the  sea  yields  to  the  country.  The 
means  of  employment  it  also  gives  to  the  surplus 
population  of  the  Highlands  is  very  considerable, 
for  no  fewer  than  49,221  men  and  boys  were  engaged 
in  the  sea  fisheries  in  the  year  1866.  In  addition 
to  this  number,  50,973  persons  were  employed  in 
connection  with  the  summer  herring  fishery.  Th.3 
estimated  capital  invested  in  boats,  lines,  nets,  etc., 
is  £1,712,349. 

The  herring  fishery  has  gone  on  increasing  at  an 
enormous  rate  since  the  year  1809,  when  the  total 
number  of  barrels  cured  was  90,185^ ;  in  1850,  the 


Fisheries,  87 

number  increased  to  544,009^ ;  while  in  1886  the 
number  of  barrels  cured  amounted  to  1,103,424^. 
Of  this  aggregate  quantity,  8G5,911J  barrels  were 
exported  to  Germany  and  other  places  on  the  Con- 
tinent ;  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  balance  was 
sent  to  America  and  to  Ireland. 

If  it  were  not  for  this  industry,  the  Highlands 
- — with  its  present  low  ebb  in  agricultural  matters 
— would  be  in  a  most  deplorable  state  of  starvation 
and  misery ;  but  the  All- wise  Creator  has  com- 
pensated the  poor  Hebridean  for  his  bleak  and 
barren  land  by  providing  a  rich  and  inexhaustible 
store  in  the  precious  treasures  of  the  mighty  deep. 

Although  the  fisheries  of  Scotland  have  made 
extraordinary  progress  during  the  last  fifty  years, 
still  there  is  much  room  for  further  development ; 
and,  to  accomplish  this,  several  things  are  neces- 
sary. State  aid  must  be  given  for  the  construction 
of  harbours  and  railways,*  and  existing  railway 
companies  should  be  compelled  to  carry  fresh  fish 
at  a  rate  sufficient  to  pay  them  a  fair  percentage 
for  haulage,  without  swallowing  up  the  entire  pro- 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Government  granted 
subsidies  to  the  Highland  Eailway  and  West  Highland 
Railway  for  extensions  of  their  systems. 


88       TIte  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

fits  of  the  industry;  a  suitable  and  central 
station  ought  to  be  selected  on  the  west  coast, 
where  boats  and  steamers  could  land  their  cargoes 
so  as  to  be  dispatched  by  the  most  rapid  and 
economical  route  to  the  great  consuming  centres 
of  the  Empire ;  and  lastly,  grants  should  be  made 
to  fishermen,  on  favourable  terms,  for  the  proper 
equipment  of  the  fishing  fleet. 

The  restrictions  surrounding  sums  devoted  by 
the  Treasury  under  the  Crofters'  Holdings  Act, 
have  rendered  it  next  to  impossible  to  apply  the 
money  for  what  it  was  intended  ;  and  consequently 
very  few  crofter  fishermen  have  benefited 
therefrom. 


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The  Development  of  the  Fisheries.  89 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  FISHERIES. 

APPEND  the  most  interesting  statement  made 

by  Professor  Ewart  before  a  committee  of  the 

House  of  Lords,  in  evidence  for  the  proposed 

railway  for  the  West  Highlands,    in    March, 

1889. 

Professor  Cossar  Ewart,  of  the  Scottish  Fishery 
Board,  said  "that  great  shoals  of  herring  were  to 
be  found  all  along  the  West  of  Scotland ;  and  both 
inside  and  outside  the  Long  Island  there  were 
immense  shoals.  There  were  always  large  shoals 
running  up  the  coasts  of  Coll  and  Tiree.  Many 
of  them  pass  along  between  Skye  and  the  mainland 
into  Lochs  Hourn  and  Nevis,  and  others  skirted  the 
outside  of  Skye.  There  was  a  sort  of  concentra- 
tion  of  herring  shoals  on  +he  inner  coast  of  Skye, 
especially  upon  the  southern  part.  In  1882  there 
were  cured  from  Lochs  Hourn  and  Nevis  no  less 
than  80,000  crans  of  herring.  The  fishing  in  the 
following  year  did  not  prove  quite  so  good,  but 
there  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  number  of 
fish  had  decreased.     On  the  coast  the  number  of 


90       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

fish  taken  has  enormously  increased  during  the  last 
fifty  years ;  some  years  as  many  as  one  million 
crans  were  taken.  In  his  opinion  it  was  impossible 
to  diminish  by  any  means  in  our  power  the  number 
of  herrings  on  our  coasts.  Even  when  the  herring 
did  not  enter  Lochs  Hourn  and  Nevis  they  were  to 
be  found  in  abundance  in  the  vicinity ;  but  the 
fishermen  in  the  district  were  not  equipped  in  such 
-a  way  as  enabled  them  to  follow  the  fish,  their  boats 
being  too  small  and  their  gear  insufficient.  On 
the  East  Coast  the  fishermen  with  their  large  boats 
scoured  the  whole  of  the  north  seas  in  search  of 
the  herring,  going  out  as  far  as  fifty  or  sixty  miles ; 
and  they  followed  up  the  shoals  wherever  they 
might  go.  The  West  Coast  fishermen  were  an 
entirely  different  class.  Fishing  had  never  been 
prosecuted  by  them  in  any  systematic  manner.  It 
is  difficult  to  learn  the  trade  of  fishing ;  but  the 
the  men  of  the  West  Coast  were  taking  advantage 
of  the  example  shown  them  by  the  East  Coast 
fishermen  who  had  migrated  there,  and  already 
there  was  a  number  of  very  expert  fishermen  be- 
longing to  Stornoway  and  other  centres.  Hitherto, 
except  in  certain  cases,  the  fishermen  of  the  West 
had  received  little  encouragement.  They  had  been 
standing,  if  he  might  say  so,  with  one  foot  on  the 


The  Development  of  the  Fisheries,  91 

land  and  the  other  on  the  water,  unable  to  make  up 
their  minds  whether  to  engage  in  fishing  or  to  work 
their  crops.  He  had  known  men  who,  after  having 
the  necessary  lines  and  hooks,  had  forsaken  their 
resolutions  to  become  fishermen  and  reverted  to 
their  crofts.  The  difficulty  was  that  they  had  no 
prospect  of  disposing  of  the  fish  with  any  profit 
after  they  were  caught.  Little  was  known  about 
the  white  fish  banks  on  the  West  Coast.  He  knew, 
however,  of  a  large  bank  lying  to  the  north-west  of 
Coll.  The  bank  ran  up  to  Canna  and  outwards, 
and  had  a  depth  of  from  11  to  50  fathoms.  In 
addition  there  were  banks  extending  south-west 
towards  Skerry vo re  and  Dhuheartich  Lighthouses. 
So  famous,  indeed,  was  this  bank  that  East  Coast 
fishermen  found  it  paid  them  to  go  round  to  Coll, 
build  themselves  huts,  and  fish  for  cod  and  ling, 
which  they  dried  and  took  home  with  them,  or  ex- 
ported to  the  Continent.  Undoubtedly  these  men 
would  prefer  to  have  a  market  to  which  they  might 
send  the  fish  in  a  fresh  condition.  The  white  fish- 
ing on  the  West  Coast  had  not  been  developed  in 
the  least,  because  as  long  as  herring  paid  well 
fishermen  preferred  to  keep  to  that  branch  of  the 
industry.  After  suitable  boats  and  gear,  what  the 
fishermen  on  the  West  Coast  required  was  ready  and 


92       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

cheap  access  to  the  markets.  The  existing  rail- 
ways of  course  performed  valuable  work,  but  there 
was  a  large  district  between  Strome  Ferry  and  Oban 
totally  unprovided  for.  Roshven  he  regarded  as  an 
extremely  suitable  place  for  a  harbour  connecting 
with  a  railway  line.  It  was  convenient  for  all  the* 
fishing  grounds  within  the  Hebrides,  and  it  could 
readily  be  reached  from  outside.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  fishing  industry  on  the  West  Coast 
was  only  a  question  of  time.  Already  English 
fishing  schooners  visited  the  Hebrides,  and  Irish 
vessels  came  to  Tiree.  He  had  had  some  experi- 
ence of  Norway,  and  he  found  that  it  cost  less  to 
convey  herring  to  London  from  Norway  than  from 
any  part  of  Scotland. 

44  A  scheme  of  co-operation  should  also  be  organ- 
ised by  the  fishermen,  whereby  they  could  establish 
a  central  depot  with  a  responsible  agent  in  every 
large  town.  By  these  means  complete  train  loads  of 
fresh  fish  might  be  despatched  at  cheaper  rates 
than  by  sending  in  driblets,  and  the  various  agents, 
cculd  keep  the  senders  fully  apprised  by  telegrams 
of  the  demands  of  their  respective  markets.  " 


Remnants  of  the  Great  Caledonian  Forest. 


ft  OF  THE      * 


*l  * 


Tree  Planting.  93 


TREE  PLANTING. 

T  one  period  in  the  early  history  of  the  High- 
lands the  country  was  covered  by  vast  tracts 
of  pine  trees,    and    +he    remnants  of  these 
natural  forests  may  be  seen    on    mountain 
sides  where  solitary  pine  trees  are  dotted  like  stray 
sentinels  on  the  bleak  crags  of  Glenorchy  or  buried 
in  the  deep  morasses  of  Rannoch  Moor. 

The  great  forest  of  Caledonia  must  have  extended 
over  many  square  miles  of  territory,  and  to-day 
large  areas  of  the  country  are  covered  by  planta- 
tions of  fir,  oak,  and  other  trees,  which  take  readily 
to  the  soil  of  our  Northern  Highlands. 

The  re-afforesting  of  the  Highlands  is  a  matter 
which  should  engage  the  attention  of  Parliament 
or  the  Congested  District  Board,  for,  apart  from  the 
effect  on  the  climate,  advantages  are  likely  to  accrue 
from  sheltering  bleak  tracts  of  country  and  affording 
cover  for  stock  and  game.  The  beautification  of 
the  country  is  no  small  factor,  but  above  and 
beyond  all  these  considerations,  there  is  the  possi- 
bility of  a  vast  industry  in  the  future,  and  the 
possibility  of  not  only  supplying  our  home  require- 


94       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

ments  in  the  way  of  timber  for  railway  sleepers 
and  other  industrial  works,  but,  owing  to  the 
denuding  of  the  Norwegian  and  Swedish  forests, 
it  will  be  quite  within  the  range  of  probability 
that  a  large  timber  trade  can  be  carried  on  with  our 
colonies. 

The  nature  of  the  soil  in  nearly  every  portion  of 
the  Highlands  is  most  admirably  adapted  for  the 
growth  of  pine,  and  from  the  slow  growth  of 
timber  on  our  mountain  sides,  the  quality  should 
even  rival  Baltic  timbers. 

There  are  thousands  of  acres  available  for 
afforesting,  land  not  suitable  for  cultivation  or 
pastoral  purposes,  but  which  could  be  profitably 
utilised  for  tree-planting.  Again,  the  vast  amount 
of  water  power  available  in  nearly  every  district  of 
the  Highlands  could  be  utilised  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  the  timber  thus  grown. 


Manufactories,  95 


MANUFACTORIES. 

HE  Highlands  are  singularly  destitute  of 
manufactories,  at  least  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  for,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  wool 
mills  and  several  distilleries,  there  is  no  other 
branch  of  the  manufacturing  industry  in  the 
country.  Shipbuilding  was  at  one  period — before 
ironclads  were  introduced — carried  on  in  the  High- 
lands ;  and  we  find  it  recorded  by  Matthew  Paris 
that,  as  far  back  as  1249,  a  magnificent  vessel 
(Navis  Miranda)  was  specially  built  at  Inverness 
for  the  Earl  of  St.  Pol  and  Bloise,  to  carry  him  with 
Louis  IX.  of  France  to  the  Holy  Land.  As  far  as 
Inverness  is  now  concerned  this  industry  is  extinct. 
I  have  not  seen  a  vessel  on  the  stocks  for  years.  In 
so  extensive  a  wool- growing  country  as  the  High- 
lands, with  its  unlimited  source  of  water-power, 
one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  the  country 
studded  with  woollen  factories ;  but  it  is  not  so. 
Sir  George  Mackenzie,  in  his  "  Survey  of  Ross  and 
Cromarty,  1810, "  complains  bitterly  of  the  total 
want  of  encouragement  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 


96       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

country,  and  from  the  proprietors,  in  supporting 
a  woollen  manufactory  started  at  Inverness  by  him- 
self in  conjunction  with  other  gentlemen,  who 
thought  the  inhabitants  of  the  Highlands  would 
eagerly  encourage  home  industry. 

About  the  beginning  of  this  century  there  were 
a  good  many  woollen  mills  scattered  over  the 
Highlands;  but  improved  machinery  caused  the 
old-fashioned  hand-loom  to  go  the  way  of  the  world, 
and  they  have  fallen  to  decay,  and  neither  sufficient 
energy  nor  capital  has  arisen  to  replace  them  with 
modern  machinery. 

As  an  example  of  the  decline  of  the  manufactur- 
ing industry,  let  us  take  the  case  of  the  Black  Isle, 
where  at  this  date  not  a  factory  of  any  description 
exists.*  At  Avoch,  fifty  years  ago,  there  was  a 
large  woollen  mill  in  operation,  and  the  manu- 
facturing of  coarse  linen  from  home-grown  lint 
was  carried  on,  and  herring  and  salmon  nets  and 
fishing  tackle  were  extensively  made,  and  several 
carding  mills  were  scattered  over  the  peninsula. 

*  Through  the  enterprising  efforts  of  Mr.  J.  Douglas 
Fletcher  of  Bosehaugh,  the  Avoch  Woollen  Mills  have  been 
recently  equipped  with  new  machinery,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  business  is  now  being  done. 


Manufactories.  97 

At  Cromarty,  less  than  eighty  years  ago,  "there 
was  a  mill  for  carding  wool  and  jennies  for  spin- 
ning it ;  also  a  wauk-mill,  two  flax  mills,  and  a 
flour  mill, "  .  .  .  "  a  large  brewery,  and  houses 
for  hemp  manufactory.  From  the  5th  January, 
1807,  to  5th  January,  1808,  there  were  imported 
185  tons  of  hemp,  and  about  10,000  pieces  of  bag- 
ging were  sent  to  London,  which  were  valued  at 
£25,000.  During  the  same  period  were  exported 
1550  casks  and  tubs  containing  112  tons  of  pickled 
pork  and  hams,  and  60  tons  of  dried  cod-fish. 
There  is  also  a  ropework  in  operation,  and  ship- 
building just  begun."*  To-day,  I  daresay,  there 
is  not  another  town  of  the  size  of  Cromarty  in 
Scotland  more  destitute  of  commerce,  nor  more 
deserted.  One  may  well  ask  the  question,  whence 
this  decay?  It  is  simply  isolation,  and  what  is 
here  true  of  Cromarty  and  the  Black  Isle  is  also 
true  of  many  other  isolated  districts  in  the 
Highlands. 


*  Sir  George  E.  Mackenzie's  "Survey  of  Ross  and  Cromarty, 

1810." 

G 


98       The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


DISTILLERIES. 

HE  most  extensive  industry  in  the  Highlands 
is  the  distillation  of  whisky,  and  so  enormous 
has  the  demand  been  for  Highland  whisky 
that  in  the  year  1884  the  quantity  of  spirits 
produced  in  Scotland  amounted  to  20,164,902 
gallons,  by  far  the  greater  quantity  of  which  was 
manufactured  in  the  Highlands.  In  the  year  182 5, 
when  the  duty  was  reduced  from  6s.  2d.  to  2s.  4d. 
per  imperial  gallon,  the  quantity  distilled  was  only 
4,324,322  gallons.  The  Government  duty  per 
imperial  gallon  now  is  10s.  4d.  per  proof  gallon. 
Smuggling  or  illicit  distilling  is  carried  on  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  the  remote  districts  of  the 
Highlands  at  this  very  hour ;  and  although  the 
Revenue  Officers  make  many  captures,  yet  the 
practice  can  never  be  suppressed  so  long  as  there 
is  so  high  a  duty  on  whisky.  By  evading  this  high 
duty,  the  profit  is  so  remunerative  as  to  tempt  many 
a  poverty-stricken  crofter  to  venture  the  risk  of 
capture  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  meet  his  obliga- 
tions, and  in  many  cases  he  depends  on  the  sale  of 


Distilleries,  9D 

his  smuggled  whisky  for  the  money  with  which  to 
pay  his  rent. 

Smuggling  is  an  evil  which  cannot  be  too  much 
deprecated,  for  it  not  only  demoralises  the  manu- 
facturer, but  often  leads  to  intemperance  and 
immorality  in  communities  that  might  otherwise 
be  sober  and  industrious. 


100     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


KELP. 

HE  manufacture  of  kelp  at  the  beginning  of 

last  century  was  one  of  the  most  remunerative 

industries  ever  established  in  the  Highlands, 

and     maritime     proprietors     have     suffered 

material    loss    from    the    abandonment    of    this 

manufacture. 

The  product  of  the  alkaline  sea-weed  was  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  plate-glass  and  soap  ;  but 
scientific  research  discovered  a  cheaper  substitute, 
which,  together  with  the  reduction  of  duty  on 
Spanish  barilla,  completely  outworked  the  profit- 
able production  of  kelp  in  the  Highlands.  As  a 
source  of  income  it  was  enormous,  especially  when 
the  price  ranged  from  £15  to  £20  per  ton;  it, 
however,  gradually  declined  to  £4  and  £5  per  ton, 
and  now  little  if  any  kelp  is  made  in  Scotland.  I 
recollect  seeing  some  burnt  in  Orkney  about 
twenty  years  ago.  Lord  Teignmouth,  in  his 
44  Sketches  of  the  Coasts  and  Islands  of  Scotland, " 
states  "that  the  number  thrown  out  of  employment 


Kelp.  101 

by  the  failure  of  the  kelp  manufacture — in  a 
memorial  prepared  at  Edinburgh,  in  the  beginning 
of  1828,  by  the  proprietors  of  the  western  maritime 
estates — amounted  to  50,000." 


102     The  Highlands  of  Scotla?id  since  1800. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF   THE    HIGHLANDS. 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION. 
ROADS. 

ROM  the  peculiar  configuration  of  the  High- 
lands, this  region  of  Scotland  was  completely 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  until 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  country  in  1715 
forced  the  Government  to  consider  a  scheme  for 
the  construction  of  military  roads  in  the  Highlands, 
so  that  the  Royal  forces  might  with  ease  be  able  to 
enter  a  hitherto  impenetrable  part  of  the  kingdom. 
General  Wade  was  therefore  commissioned  to  con- 
struct about  250  miles  of  roads  in  the  Highlands, 
and  although  we  cannot  rank  the  General  as  a 
first-class  engineer,  yet,  as  the  " Irish"  couplet  puts 
it:  — 

"  Had  you  seen  these  roads  before  they  were  made, 
You  would  lift  up  both  hands  and  bless  General  "Wade." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  year  1803  that 


Roads.  103 

^any  material  benefit  was  derived  from  the  con- 
struction of  roads ;  for  General  Wade's  roads,  well 
suited  as  they  were  for  military  purposes,  were  from 
the  nature  of  their  construction  entirely  inadequate 
and  unsuited  for  the  commerce  of  the  country.  It 
was  left  to  Thomas  Telford  to  intersect  the  High- 
lands with  a  net-work  of  roads,  which  to  this  day 
stand  unrivalled  in  Scotland. 

In  1803  Parliament  passed  an  Act  granting 
£20,000  towards  making  roads  and  bridges  in  the 
Highlands,  and  for  enabling  the  proprietors  to 
charge  their  estates  with  a  proportion  of  the  ex- 
pense of  maintaining  the  different  lines  of  com- 
munication. 

Subsequent  grants  were  made  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, and  by  1820  no  less  than  875  miles  of  road 
were  made,  at  a  cost  to  Parliament  of  .£267,000, 
io  the  counties  of  £214,000,  and  to  individual  pro- 
prietors of  estates  of  £60,000.  The  whole  of  these 
lines  were  then  under  one  management,  and  the 
maintenance  cost  about  £10,000  per  annum.  This 
amount  was  chiefly  raised  by  tolls,  which,  however, 
~were  considered  such  a  grievance  that  a  Royal  Com- 
mission was  appointed  in  1859  which  recommended 
the  total  abolition  of  tolls  in  Scotland.  In  1883, 
under  a  general  act  passed  in  1878,  tolls  ceased  to 


104     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

be  collected  on  any  road  in  Scotland,  and  these  are 
now  maintained  by  a  general  assessment,  and 
managed  by  County  Road  Boards. 

"  The  extent  of  roads,  completed  by  means  of  the 
Highland  Road  and  Bridge  Act,  and  absolutely 
placed  under  our  care  by  the  Road  Repair  Act,  is 
no  less  than  400  miles,  and  GO  miles  more  await 
only  the  formality  of  exonerating  the  contractors. 
Besides  these,  270  miles  are  under  contract  and  in 
various  stages  of  progress,  and  at  least  170  miles 
more  will  hereafter  be  placed  under  contract  and 
finished,  presenting  a  total  of  900  miles,  and  prov- 
ing how  eagerly  the  inhabitants  of  the  Highlands 
have  availed  themselves  of  the  liberal  assistance 
held  out  to  them  by  the  Government  for  the 
improvement  of  their  country.  Independently  of 
the  above  extent  of  roads,  the  bridges  built  and 
constructed  under  distinct  contracts  have  cost  the 
public  £30,000  and  the  contributors  upwards  of 
£40,000.  "* 

It  may  be  imagined  what  an  impetus  would  have 
been  given  to  commerce  in  the  Highlands  after  thus 
being  intersected  with  so  many  roads.     Before  the 

*  Vide  Keport  (7th)  of  the  Commission  on  Highland  Koads. 
and  Bridges,  1815. 


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Roads.  105 

commencement  of  the  last  century  no  public 
coach  or  other  regular  vehicle  of  conveyance  existed 
in  the  Highlands.  In  1800  an  attempt  was  made 
to  establish  coaches  between  Inverness  and  Aber- 
deen, but  from  the  wretched  state  of  the  roads  at 
that  time,  and  the  little  intercourse  that  took  place, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  discontinue  them,  and  it 
was  not  till  1806  and  1811  that  coaches  were  re- 
gularly established  on  this  route.  In  1832  no  less 
than  seven  different  stage  coaches  passed  to  and 
from  Inverness,  making  forty-four  coaches  arriving 
at,  and  the  same  number  departing  from  it  in  the 
course  of  every  week.  Three  of  these  included  the 
mail  run  between  Inverness  and  Aberdeen,  and 
between  Inverness  and  Perth  over  the  Highland 
road ;  two  between  Inverness  and  Dingwall,  Inver- 
gordon,  Cromarty,  and  Tain ;  and  the  mail  coach 
between  Inverness,  Wick,  and  Thurso,  extending 
from  London,  made  in  a  direct  line  eight  hundred 
miles.  There  was  also  a  coach  from  Inverness  to 
Oban,  which  ran  over  a  considerable  part  of  tha 
military  road. 


106     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


CANALS. 

HE  next  step  towards  opening  up  the  High- 
lands was  the  construction  of  the  Crinan  and 
Caledonian  Canals.  The  Caledonian  Canal  is 
the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  passes  through  some  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  romantic  scenery  in  the  Highlands.  The 
estimated  cost  of  constructing  the  work  was 
£474,531,  whereas  the  actual  expenditure  amounted 
to  about  one  and  a  quarter  million  pounds  sterling. 
From  the  Canal  Commissioners'  report  in  1831  it 
appears  that  the  total  expenditure  from  20th 
October,  1803,  to  the  1st  May,  1831,  was  £990,559 
10s.  9^d.  The  total  length  of  the  canal  from  east 
to  west  sea  is  59  miles,  16  chains,  of  which  distance 
37  miles  41  chains  is  formed  of  natural  waterway, 
leaving  21  miles  55  chains,  which  required  to  be  cut. 
Throughout  the  entire  canal  there  are  29  locks, 
each  being  40  feet  wide  and  172  feet  long.  At 
the  Inverness  entrance  of  the  canal  from  the  Beauly 
Firth  there  is  a  large  basin  or  floating  dock  cover- 
ing 32  acres. 


Canals.  107 

The  Caledonian.  Canal  was  opened  in  October, 
1822,  by  Charles  Grant,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Canal 
Commissioners,  and  for  a  long  period  member  of 
Parliament  for  Inverness-shire.  The  canal  has 
done  a  great  deal  towards  opening  up  and  facilitat- 
ing intercourse  with  the  central  Highlands,  but 
still  the  anticipations  of  the  promoters  have  not 
been  fully  realised.  It  was  expected  that  all  the 
coasting  trade  would  pass  along  this  waterway,  and 
thus  save  rounding  the  stormy  Cape  Wrath,  but  a 
very  small  proportion  of  this  class  of  vessel 
patronises  the  route,  although  the  Commissioners 
gave  every  inducement  by  lowering  the  dues  to  a 
minimum  with  little  good  effect.  As  it  is,  the 
concern  is  a  dead  loss  to  the  nation.  Mr.  David 
MacBrayne's  excellent  fleet  of  Highland  steamers 
ply  regularly  through  the  canal  between  Inverness 
the  Western  Isles,  and  Glasgow.  It  is  a  favourite 
tourist  route,  and  for  grandeur  and  picturesqueness 
in  scenery  without  a  rival  in  Scotland. 


108     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


RAILWAYS. 

ITT  the  most  important  factor  in  developing 
the  Highlands  has  been  the  construction  of 
railways,  and,  although  the  first  portion  of 
the  Highland  system  of  railways  was  opened 
in  1854,  still  at  this  date  we  have  only  a  little  over 
600  miles  of  railway  in  the  Highlands.  At  the 
same  time  we  feel  truly  thankful  for  what  noble- 
men and  capitalists  in  the  country  have  done  for 
us,  yet  there  is  a  wide  field  for  developing  railways 
in  the  northern  and  central  Highlands.  A  com- 
parison with  any  part  of  Ireland  will  illustrate  how 
Scotland  is  comparatively  isolated  in  this  direction. 
I  am  glad  to  notice  that  the  attention  of  the  present 
Government  is  engaged  at  this  moment  in  consider- 
ing the  advisability  of  granting  a  subsidy  towards 
constructing  railways  and  tramways  in  the  High- 
lands and  Islands,*  and  I  fail  to  see  how  the  loyal 

*  When  the  Light  Railways  Act  was  passed,  it  was 
thought  that  a  great  impetus  would  be  given  to  railway 
development  in  the  Highlands.  It  is  now  ten  years  since 
the  Act  has  been  in  force,  yet  during  that  period  only  21 


Railways.  109 

Scottish  Celt  is  not  as  fully  entitled  to  Government 
aid  as  his  more  boisterous  brother  beyond  the  Irish 
Sea.  Before  the  opening  of  railways  in  the  north, 
an  inside  seat  in  the  coach  from  Inverness  to 
Perth  cost  60s.,  and  an  outside  seat  35s.  By  rail 
you  can  now  get  a  return  fare  to  London  for  <£3  ; 

miles  of  railway  have  been  constructed,  and  52£  miles 
sanctioned  but  not  yet  carried  out,  under  its  powers. 
For  pioneer  or  developing  lines,  the  Act  is  still  too  severe, 
and  until  more  latitude  in  construction  is  granted,  and  more 
liberal  subsidies  are  provided  by  the  Government,  there  is 
but  little  hope  for  any  further  extensions  of  railways  in  the 
Highlands,  of  the  character  and  cost  compatible  with  the 
requirements  of  the  traffic. 

Mr.  T.  E.  Price,  C.M.G.,  General  Manager  of  the  Central 
South  African  Railways,  in  his  valuable  and  comprehensive 
report  on  the  "Construction  and  Working  of  Light  and 
Narrow  Gauge  Railways,"  strongly  advocates  the  construc- 
tion of  2  ft.  gauges  in  localities  where  traffic  will  not 
warrant  the  standard  gauge.  I  take  the  liberty  of  making 
two  extracts  from  Mr.  Price's  report : — 

"  The  extent  of  and  the  importance  attached  to  what  are 
known  in  Europe  as  secondary  railways  of  a  lighter  type 
and  narrower  gauge  than  the  standard  (4  ft.  8J  in.  as  in 
England  and  America)  is  further  indicated  by  the  information 
furnished  and  the  attention  given  to  the  subject  at  the 
recent  International   Railway  Congress  at  Washington,  as 


110     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

and  you  can  also  perform  the  return  journey  to  the- 
metropolis  in  less  time  than  the  coach  took  to  run 
from  Inverness  to  Perth. 

The  cost  of  constructing  a  2  ft.  gauge,  on  the 
average,  will  cost  £2000  to  £2500  per  mile,  including 
the  necessary  rolling  stock ;  but,  while  prepared  to 

well  as  at  previous  Congresses.  It  is  made  clear  that  similar 
reasons  to  those  which  obtained  in  Belgium,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  have  compelled  the  adoption  of 
similar  action  in  the  other  European  States  and  elsewhere. 

"  It  is  also  clear,  from  the  discussions  at  the  Congress  and 
the  comments  in  the  American  newspapers,  that  it  is  at  last 
realised,  both  in  America  and  in  England,  that  this  question 
can  be  no  longer  neglected. 

"  The  resolution  passed  by  the  section  of  the  International 
Congress  which  dealt  with  the  question  is  as  follows  : — 

"  *  Light  railways  merit  in  the  highest  degree  the  attention 
of  public  authorities.  Their  construction  makes  it  possible 
to  encourage  the  progress  and  development  of  districts 
which  previously  have  remained  in  the  background,  and  it 
is  accordingly  not  only  the  interest  but  the  duty  of  the 
Governments  to  assist  them.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  not 
to  adhere  to  old  types  and  old  methods  of  construction, 
operation,  and  regulation,  but  to  introduce  every  facility 
possible  adaptable  to  local  needs  and  available  resources.5 

"As  the  extent  to  which  this  principle  of  light  or 
secondary  railways  of  narrower  gauge   than   the  standard 


Railways.  Ill 

advocate  the  building  of  2  ft.  gauge  lines  in  the 
Hebridean  Islands  for  the  development  of  the 
fisheries,  and  also  for  "cul  de  sac"  lines  on  the 
mainland,  1  do  not  advocate  the  construction  of  2  ft. 
gauge  lines  in  districts  on  the  mainland,  as,  for 
instance,  from  Pitlochry  to  Kinloch  Rannoch,  or  from 

railways  has  been  acted  upon  is  not,  I  believe,  generally 
known,  I  have  prepared  a  statement  (Appendix  K.)  setting 
out  the  gauges  and  lengths  of  the  standard  and  of  the 
narrower  lines  constructed  in  the  various  countries  by  1904* 
summarized  from  the  compilation  by  the  Editor  of  the 
Universal  Directory  of  Railway  Officials.  The  information 
will,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  instructive.  A  noticeable 
feature  is  that  in  two  such  densely  peopled  countries  as 
Belgium  and  India,  the  mileages  of  the  narrower  gauge 
railways  closely  approximate  to  those  of  the  standard  gauge 
lines. 

<fc  Turning  to  another  source,  the  following  extracts  from  an 
important  report  of  the  Government  of  India  (Annexure  D 
to  Appendix  L)  on  the  type  and  gauge  of  railway  to  be 
provided  (the  whole  report  and  annexures  are  especially 
well  worth  reading),  serve  as  useful  guides  : — 

" '  It  was  agreed  that  the  justification  of  light  2  ft.  com- 
mercial feeder  lines  must  be  sought  from  experiment,  there 
being  no  sufficient  data  available  for  the  formation  of  any 
reliable  opinion  or  forecast  of  their  success  ;  but  in  arriving 
meantime  at  the  conclusion  that  the  2   ft.  should  be  the 


112     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

Garve  to  Ullapool,  where  the  apparent  traffic  is 
considerable.  In  such  localities  a  3  ft.  gauge  would 
be  necessary,  and  sufficient  for  all  time  to  cope  with 
present  or  prospective  traffic. 

A  2  ft.  gauge  should  be  constructed  at  once 
encircling  the  Isle  of  Skye,  touching  at  the  numerous 
fishing  villages  along  the  coast,  with  a  terminus  at 
Kyle  of  Lochalsh,  whence  a  steam  ferry  would  convey 
the  train  loads  of  fish   to   the   Highland   Railway 

standard  for  all  feeders  not  following  the  parent  gauge,  the 
Conference  considered  such  a  conclusion  to  be  warranted  by 
the  consideration  that  the  lesser  of  the  two  light  gauges  was 
sufficient  to  carry  all  traffic  offering,  up  to  the  point  when 
the  amount  of  that  traffic  was  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
substitution  of  the  parent  gauge.  It  was  further  agreed 
that  to  be  commercially  successful  such  feeders  should  be 
constructed  and  worked  on  the  cheapest  lines  possible,  com- 
patible with  normal  expenditure  on  maintenance,  the  rails 
not  to  be  lighter  than  from  20  to  25  lbs.  per  yard,  the  rolling 
stock  to  be  simple  and  as  light  and  easy  to  handle  as  possible.' 

" '  Eeference  may  be  made  to  the  same  despatches  as 
quoted  above  in  respect  to  the  question  of  gauge.  Again  in 
the  opening  paragraphs  of  Colonel  Conway-Gordon's  note, 
which  forms  an  enclosure  to  Government  of  India  despatch 
No.  48  E  of  April  22nd,  1884,  to  Secretary  of  State,  it  was 
pointed  out  : — 

"  i  "  That  the  principle  underlying  all  questions  of  gauge 


Railways.  113 

terminus  on  the  mainland.  These  light  railways, 
should,  where  possible,  be  constructed  along  the 
main  roads,  thus  avoiding  the  cost  of  earthwork 
and  in  many  cases  bridges.  The  space  taken  up  by 
the  track  would  not  inconvenience  the  small  amount 
of  vehicular  traffic  on  any  of  these  roads. 

In  connection  with  light  railways  of  the  parent 
gauge,  a  standard  similar  to  our  Colonial  railways 
should  be  adopted  by  the  Light  Railway  Commis- 

is  that  a  machine  is,  comparatively  speaking,  economical  only 
when  working  at  its  full  power.  The  best  gauge  for  any 
particular  railway  is,  therefore,  merely  a  question  of  the 
amount  and  description  of  traffic  that  will  probably  be 
conveyed  on  the  line."  J 

"  *  Mr.  E.  Calthrop,  in  his  "  Economics  of  Light  Kailway 
Construction,"  says  : — 

"  *  "  It  is  well  to  point  out  that  there  is  a  great  principle 
underlying  the  question  of  gauge.  A  railway  is  a  machine, 
and,  like  any  other  machine,  is  economical  only  when  working 
within  a  reasonable  measure  of  its  full  power.  In  a  recogni- 
tion and  observance  of  this  principle  lies  the  whole  art  and 
mystery  of  the  financial  success  which  has  attended  the 
working  of  narrow-gauge  feeder  lines  on  the  Continent  and  in 
India,  in  districts  where  a  standard  gauge  line  would  not  only 
starve,  but  would  lose  money  at  the  end  of  the  chapter." ' " — 
Tide  Eeport  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Price,  C.M.G.,  to  the  Cape 
Parliament. 

H 


114     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

sioners.  It  will  then  be  possible  to  build  a  line  of 
4  ft.  8|  in.  gauge  for  £4000  to  £5000  per  mile,  and 
in  very  many  districts,  with  favourable  contours, 
such  lines  can  be  constructed  on  a  dividend-paying 
basis. 

There  are  no  known  minerals  except  granite  in  the 
Highlands  of  sufficient  value  ever  to  yield  wealth  to  the 
country,  and  this  region  must  therefore  look  largely 
to  its  fisheries  as  the  future  source  of  prosperity ; 
and  it  is  most  important  that  everything  which 
science  and  money  can  accomplish  should  be  em- 
ployed in  developing  this  great  industry.  The 
fishing  centres  should  have  direct  railway  com- 
munication with  the  interior  of  the  country,  and 
cheap  and  rapid  means  of  transit  to  the  large 
English  towns  and  thickly  populated  districts  ;  and 
the  Government  should  construct  safe  and  com- 
modious harbours,  as  well  as  make  liberal  grants 
to  fully  equip  the  fishing  fleet.  I  should  also  like 
to  see  a  fishery  school  established  at  Inverness,  or 
some  central  station  in  the  Highlands,  where  young 
fishermen  and  boys  could  receive  technical  training 
and  instruction  in  making  fishing  gear,  as  well  as 
in  constructing  and  repairing  boats.  And  last, 
but  not  least,  all  the  tillable  lands  in  the  Highlands 
should  be  allotted  to  the  surplus  population  of  con- 


Railways.  115 

gested  districts,  and  light  or  narrow  gauge  railways 
constructed  through  the  newly  settled  glens. 
When  these  things  are  done  we  shall  have  an 
enriched  nation  and  a  peaceful,  contented,  and 
prosperous  peasantry — their  country's  stay  and 
their  nation's  pride. 


116     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 


PEAT. 

Tjlif  HERE  is  another  source  of  industry  which 
qjKp  might  yield  a  large  income  if  properly  and 
scientifically  developed.  I  refer  to  the  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  peat-mosses  scattered  over 
the  Highlands.  The  primitive  method  of  making 
peat  suitable  for  fuel  by  cutting  the  turf  into 
rectangular  blocks  and  drying  them  in  small  stacks 
in  the  open  air — and  that  in  a  climate  so  uncertain 
— is  so  crude  that,  in  an  age  steeped  in  scientific 
discoveries,  one  marvels  that  this  remnant  of  what 
one  might  call  barbarism  should  possibly  exist,  for 
no  matter  how  the  cubes  are  left  drying,  a  large 
proportion  of  water  will  be  retained.  Notwith- 
standing this,  thousands  of  tons  of  peat  are  annually 
consumed  as  a  fuel ;  and  in  many  districts  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  this  is  the  only 
fuel  used.  Experiments  made  by  Sir  Archibald 
Geikie  put  the  constituent  elements  of  peat  after 
being  dried  at  100  degrees,  C.  carbon,  60.48; 
hydrogen,  6.10;   oxygen,    32.55;    nitrogen,    0.88. 


Peat.  117 

The  large  proportion  of  water  which  cannot  be 
extracted  from  peat  is  the  great  obstacle  to  its  use 
as  a  fuel,  but  under  a  pressure  of  6000  atmospheres, 
peat  may  be  converted  into  as  hard,  black,  and 
brilliant  a  substance,  and  having  the  same  aspect 
as  physical  coal. 

If  a  syndicate  were  formed  having  an  efficient 
stock  of  cutting,  compressing,  and  drying 
machinery,  a  lucrative  enterprise  might  be  estab- 
lished in  the  Highlands,  benefiting  both  the 
promoters  and  the  inhabitants.  A  fuel  thus  manu- 
factured would  be  equal  in  many  respects  to  coal, 
and  the  cost  not  more  than  half  what  that  mineral 
costs.  In  the  large  peat-moss  of  Lancashire,  lying 
between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  a  considerable 
trade  is  carried  on  in  manufacturing  the  most 
fibrous  portion  of  the  peat  into  material  for  litter. 

I  fear  some  sceptical  reader  will  say  that  many 
Highland  proprietors  have  tried  the  "improvement 
scheme"  with  but  poor  success.  Sir  James  Mathe- 
son  of  Lewis  expended  in  six  years  the  sum  of 
£67,980  more  than  the  entire  revenue  derived  from 
his  estate  in  three  years.  The  late  Mr.  James 
Fletcher  of  Rosehaugh  informed  me  that  for  twelve 
years  after  purchasing  his  Black  Isle  properties  he 
annually  expended  over  £10,000  on  improvements, 


118     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

this  being  more  than  his  entire  rental,  with  the 
result  that  there  is  not  at  the  present  time  in  all 
the  Highlands  an  estate  so  well  equipped  with 
houses  and  farm  offices  and  intersected  with  such 
excellent  roads.  The  Duke  of  Argyll  between  1846 
and  1852  spent  £1790  in  addition  to  the  revenue 
derived  from  his  property  in  the  island  of  Mull ; 
and  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  spent  £254,900  on  the 
reclamation  works  at  Lairg ;  while  nearly  every 
proprietor  throughout  the  islands  has  spent  more 
or  less  in  developing  and  improving  his  estates. 
But  can  it  be  said  that  those  sums  of  money  were 
expended  to  no  purpose  ?  Certainly  not ;  for,  for 
every  penny  judiciously  spent,  the  property  was 
proportionally  enhanced  in  value.  A  brief  glance 
at  the  rental  roll  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  com- 
pared with  that  of  to-day  will  demonstrate  that 
those  expenditures  were  good  investments,  which, 
other  things  being  equal,  have  paid  well,  or  will  pay 
well,  in  the  end.  Recent  and  prospective  legislation 
on  the  land  question  places  landlords  in  a  position 
from  which  we  cannot  expect  them  to  expend  much 
capital  on  improvements;  and  it  is  therefore  the 
more  necessary  for  them  to  allot  their  unoccupied 
lands  at  a  fair  figure,  and  allow  the  crofter  to  bring 
them  into  cultivation.       The  country  will  thereby 


Peat  119 

retain  the  people,  and  the  capital  which  they  would 
take  with  them  if  they  emigrated,  and  in  the  place 
o?  as  now 

*l  The  flocks  of  a  stranger  the  long  glens  are  roaming, 
Where  a  thousand  fair   homesteads  smoked   bonnie  at 

gloaming  ; 
Our  wee  crofts  run  wild  wi'  the  bracken  and  heather, 
And  our  gables  stand  ruinous  and  bare  to  the  weather." 

We  would  then  have  instead  of  the  dreary  and 
barren  moorland  and  deserted  and  lonely  glen,  rich 
fields  of  waving  golden  grain,  and  happy  homes 
of  virtuous  women  and  brave  and  pious  men. 


APPENDIX. 


WATER  SUPPLIES. 

0  conception  can  be  formed  of  the  amount  of 
energy  running  to  waste  from  the  lochs  and 
streams  of  the  Highlands.  There  are  enormous 
possibilities  in  this  connection,  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  in  the  near  future  the  whole  of  water- 
falls and  high-level  lochs  in  Scotland  will  be  utilized 
for  motive  power  in  connection  with  electric  and 
other  works,  which  must  eventually  inevitably 
gravitate  to  regions  where  economy  in  natural 
energy  is  obtainable,  to  enable  British  manufactories 
to  compete  successfully  with  foreign  rivals. 

No  better  proof  can  be  adduced  than  the  great 
success  attendant  on  the  establishment  of  the  British 
Aluminium  Company's  Works  at  Foyers,  where  an 
installation  of  water  power  was  established  in  1895- 
1896,  when  two  lochs  have  been  impounded,  making 
one  continuous  stretch  of  water  six  miles  long  by 
half  a  mile  in  width,  giving  sufficient  storage  to  run 
the  entire  plant  of  the  factory  for  fifty  continuous 
days  and  nights  in  the  driest  season,  and  capable  of 
driving  nine  turbines  of  700  h.p.  each. 

(120) 


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UNIVERSITY 


Appendix.  121 

So  unobtrusive  are  the  works,  that  one  has  almost 
to  search  for  them,  thus  completely  upsetting  the 
outcry  once  raised  against  the  anticipated  desecration 
of  the  romantic  scenery  of  the  Falls  of  Foyers. 

On  the  contrary,  the  picturesque  little  village  and 
residential  homes  of  the  staff  have,  if  anything, 
enhanced  the  charming  scenery  of  this  locality,  as 
well  as  adding  an  important  factor  to  the  economy 
and  commerce  of  the  district. 

The  utilization  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  along 
our  sea  board  is  nothing  new,  for  we  find  that  a 
"  salt  water  mill "  was  in  existence  at  Munlochy  100 
years  ago. 

The  tidal  water  was  impounded  in  a  dam  by 
means  of  simple  self-acting  sluices,  and  retained  in 
the  dam  until  the  tide  ebbed,  when  the  water  was 
used  to  drive  the  water  wheel,  but  now  that 
powerful  turbines  can  be  used  a  considerable  increase 
of  energy  may  be  obtained. 

LIGHT  RAILWAYS. 

Since  the  passing  of  the  Light  Railways  Act  in 
1896,  the  number  of  Orders  confirmed  by  the 
Commissioners  was  234,  representing  1552  miles  of 
railway. 

Of  this   mileage,   only   79J   miles  apply  to   the 


122     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

Highlands  of  Scotland,  representing  six  separate 
undertakings,  while  out  of  the  79 \  miles  sanctioned 
only  45  \  miles  have  actually  been  constructed.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  about  6  miles  per  annum  is 
the  average  mileage  of  railways  carried  out  in  the 
Highlands  since  the  inauguration  of  the  Light 
Railways  Act. 

It  is  obviously  clear  that  the  Highlands  have 
benefited  but  very  little  in  this  connection,  nor  do 
I  suppose  that  any  great  developments  will  take 
place  in  this  direction  until  more  liberal  subsidies 
are  granted  by  the  Government,  and  the  standard  of 
of  construction  considerably  modified. 

PEAT. 

Crude  Peat  contains  about  85  per  cent,  of 
water,  13  per  cent,  of  combustible  material,  and  2 
per  cent,  of  inorganic  substances.  Of  this,  80  per 
cent,  can  be  got  rid  of  or  eliminated  by  draining  and 
evaporation. 

Finished  briquettes  contain  no  less  than  66  per 
cent,  of  combustible  material. 

By  carbonizing  peat  in  retorts,  3  tons  produce  1 
ton  of  peat  coke,  with  valuable  by-products  of  gases, 
tar,  methyl,  alcohol,  calcium,  acetate,  and  ammonium 
sulphate. 


Appendix. 


123 


In  Russia,  where  coal  is  expensive,  peat  coke  is 
used  to  great  advantage  in  lieu  of  coal. 

FISHERIES. 
I   append   a   tabular   statement    from   the  23rd 
Annual  Report  of  the  Fishery  Board  for  Scotland. 

Summary. 
The   following   Table    gives   a   summary   of  the 
means  of  capture  employed,  and  the  resulting  catch 
in  Scotland  for  the  last  ten  years  : — 


Year. 

Number 
of 

Vessels. 

Tonnage. 

Value  of 

Boats  and 

Gear. 

Total  Catch.* 

Quantity. 

Value. 

£ 

Cwts. 

£ 

1895 

13,098 

117,287 

1,820,429 

6,107,044 

1,763,991 

1896 

12,040 

113,382 

1,873,870 

6,146,738 

1,571,803 

1897 

11,633 

111,933 

1,922,685 

5,001,672 

1,627,754 

1898 

11,576 

113,557 

2,029,384 

6,558,768 

1,879,866 

1899 

11,245 

114,448 

2,383,776 

5,145,076 

2,189,933 

1900 

11,275 

119,426 

2,711,877 

5,369,265 

2,325,994 

1901 

11,201 

124,639 

3,001,301 

6,385,170 

2,238,310 

1902 

11,097 

131,692 

3,212,455 

6,866,028 

2,502,668 

1903 

11,008 

140,531 

3,448,168 

6,518,808 

2,401,287 

1904 

10,891 

140,396 

3,431,284 

7,947,829 

2,231,102 

*  Excluding  shell-fish. 


124     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  progress  during  the  above 
ten  years  has  been  gradual,  although  not  so  great  as 
would  be  desirable. 

The  total  number  of  persons  engaged  in  con- 
nection with  the  Scottish  Fisheries  and  allied 
industries  was  88,000  in  1904,  as  compared  with 
86,000  in  1894. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  a  large  number  of 
"  Steam  Drifters  " — a  larger  fishing  craft  propelled 
by  steam — has  been  introduced  at  several  fishing 
stations  in  the  Moray  Firth.  This  is  decidedly  a 
step  in  the  right  direction,  enabling  the  vessels  to* 
move  rapidly  after  the  fish  shoals  and  avoiding  the 
serious  risk  of  getting  becalmed  and  the  catch  of  fish 
damaged  before  reaching  the  curing  station. 

On  many  of  the  craft  ice-making  plant  is  carried, 
and  small  "shotts"  of  fish  cured  on  board  or 
preserved  in  the  ice  chamber. 

NOTES  ON  TREE  PLANTING. 

I  AM  indebted  to  Sir  Arthur  Bignold,  M.P.,  for  the 
following  note  on  tree  planting.  Sir  Arthur,  an 
enthusiast  in  this  respect,  between  the  years  1879 
and  1896  has  planted  eight  million  trees  on  his 
Lochrosque  estate. 


Appendix.  125 

NOTE   ON  TREE   PLANTING. 

"  The  system  now  approved  and  adopted  in  the 
North  of  Scotland  is  to  allocate  4800  trees  to  each 
acre.  According  to  the  altitude  of  the  ground,  so  the 
result:  but  where  protection  to  the  plantation  has 
been  secured,  not  only  by  fencing,  but  also  by  fire 
trenches,  and  where  also  the  trees  have  been  planted 
under  the  supervision  of  an  experienced  gaffer,  the 
average  result  of  two-year-old  trees  is  a  production 
of  95  per  cent,  of  those  embedded. 

"  Again,  the  altitude  of  the  ground  comes  in : 
when  the  thinning  moment  arrives,  each  tree  has 
protected  its  neighbour  from  the  wind,  and,  there- 
fore, an  unneccessarily  close  construction  is  desirable 
in  order  that  those  which  are  left  at  thinning  time 
may  have  the  benefit  of  the  warmth  contributed  in 
their  earlier  years  by  the  contiguous  trees  it  had 
been  determined  to  remove.  The  victims  come  in 
serviceably  for  use  in  forming  arbours,  wood  houses, 
and  decorations.  Practically  the  only  suitable  firs 
are  the  P.  Sylvestris  Scotch  fir,  the  spruce,  and  the 
larch;  the  latter  being  the  only  one  deciduous 
conifer  in  Great  Britain.  The  spruce  is  in  reality 
of  no  more  than  ornamental  service,  but  the  larch 
pole  is  valuable,  and  is  steadily  increasing  in  demand. 


126     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

Fifteen  years  from  the  date  of  plantation  is  on  the 
average  the  moment  to  begin  the  thinning,  and  at 
twenty-five  years  the  trees  become  of  commercial 
value  :  all  the  expense  entailed  is  the  cost  of  the 
tree  plants  (12/6  per  1000),  the  cutting  of  catch- 
water  drains,  and  the  erection  of  the  fence,  and,  say 
a  twenty-foot  fire  trench  at  the  back  of  the  fence. 
This  being  done,  the  proprietor  can  limit  his  part  to 
watching  the  growth  of  his  wood,  while  nature  com- 
pletes her  work. 

The  essential  point,  never  to  be  lost  sight,  is,  how 
high  up  the  hill  you  will  go.  The  attempt  at  Ardross, 
some  thirty-five  years  ago,  at  an  altitude  of  1000 
feet,  has  demonstrated  the  impossibility  of  success  at 
that  elevation,  for  these  trees  are  now,  though  still 
alive,  no  higher  than  six  feet  from  the  ground.  The 
advantages  of  protection  from  game  and  deer,  which 
the  woods  afford,  ought  not  to  be  ignored  in  a 
Highland  district,  and  strangely,  almost  inexplicably, 
the  creation  of  the  wood  has  brought  with  it  the 
reproduction  of  animals  almost  extinct  in  the 
Highlands :  the  badger,  and  even  the  marten  cat  as 
well  as  the  wild  cat,  have  reappeared  in  the  North, 
and  the  rain  has  been  deflected,  and  the  temperature 
appreciably  lowered. 

"  Of  course,  these  artificial  woods  do  not  reproduce 


Appendix,  12T 

the  Scotland  of  the  past  with  its  '  shaggy  wood/ 
to  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  refers,  or 

1  The  copse  wood  grey, 
Which  waved  and  wept 
On  Loch  Achray.5 

Nor  has  any  attempt  been  made  to  renew  the  rowan,, 
the  seeds  of  which,  scattered  by  the  wind,  continue 
to  reproduce  the  parent  tree,  until  they  are  eaten 
down  by  the  sheep :  nor  the  natural,  though  orna- 
mental, wood  of  ancient  Ross-shire,  which  boasted 
not  only  the  holly  (the  chwillinn),  the  alder  (the 
pheama),  the  willow  (the  shellach),  the  oak,  the 
hawthorn,  the  aspen,  and  the  hazel,  thousands  of 
which  still  remain,  and  are  cherished  by  all  true 
foresters." 

Of  all  the  countries  of  Europe  the  United 
Kingdom  is  that  with  the  smallest  proportion  of 
woodland.  It  is,  therefore,  all  the  more  imperative, 
owing  to  the  threatened  failure  of  the  world's  wood 
supply,  that  advantage  should  be  taken  of  the 
thousands  of  acres  of  land  in  the  Highlands  so 
admirably  adapted  for  the  growing  of  P.  Sylvestris. 

The  effect  of  afforestation  on  the  climate,  public 
health,  or  landscape,  as  well  as  the  length  of  time  to 
mature  any  large  scheme  on  a  purely  commercial 


128     The  Highlands  of  Scotland  since  1800. 

basis,  is  such  that  very  few  private  individuals  can 
undertake  such  an  extensive  scheme  as  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  make  the  undertaking  a  success.  It  is, 
therefore,  all  the  more  necessary  that  the  Government 
should  undertake  the  work,  either  by  acquiring  by 
purchase  outright  suitable  areas  of  land,  which 
is  neither  suited  for  agricultural  nor  grazing  lands, 
and  carry  out  extensive  planting,  which  in  after 
years  will  be  a  source  of  income  to  the  State, 
and  make  us  independent  of  imported  timber  for 
commercial  and  domestic  purposes. 


LD  21-100W-V33 


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